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FACTS AND INCIDENTS OF THE ORIGIN, AUTHORS, 

SENTIMENTS AND SINGING OF HYMNS, WHICH, 

WITH A SYNOPSIS, EMBRACE INTERESTING 

ITEMS RELATING TO OVER EIGHT 

HUNDRED HYMN-WRITERS. 



With many portraits and other illustrations. 



$ 



SECOND EDITION. 



lS 



By Kev. Edwin M. Long, 



Author of "Precious Hymns of Jesus," " Talks to Children," "Good News," 
" Work of Grace in the Hearts of the Young," etc. 



&01 



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Philadelphia : 
PUBLISHED BY P. W. ZIEGLER & CO. 

518 ARCH STREET. 



& 






«i 



r^ 







, Entered 1 according to act of Congress, in the year 1876, by 
EDWIN M. LONG, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 




John J-. J^rick, 

WHOM I SHALL EVER ESTEEM 
AS MY 

"Helper in Christ," 
this volume is 

by the 




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•W 



U 




INDING it unpleasant to be com- 
pelled to wait long at the door of 
entrance, we will not incur this cen- 
sure from our reader, but at once and 
with few words, extend our hand and 
a hearty welcome to the picture gal- 
lery we have been arranging. 

There will be seen many pleasant 
faces of old friends, whose hymns 
have become enshrined in our hearts' 
affections, and have so often sounded 
forth in our songs of praise. 

At the entrance you will meet one 
whose face beams with a sweet meek- 
ness, and you will be glad to recog- 
nize in him, Bishop Ken, who, for nearly two centuries, 
has been teaching the world to 

" Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. " 

Take a few steps along our gallery and the reader will 
meet the pensive face of one, whose ready pen sketched 
the immortal hymn : — 

"There is a fountain filled with blood. " 

Kear by will be perceived the noble and expressive 



**5L 



Vlll 



Preface, 



features of Doddridge, who, among his three hundred 
hymns, inserted the gem : — 

" Grace, 'tis a charming sound. " 

If our reader loves 

to steal awhile away 




From every cumbering care," 

the sight of Mrs. Phoebe H. Brown will surely be wel- 
come, as well as Montgomery, who wrote that 

" Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, 
Uttered or unexpressed. " 

Those who for a life time have been wont to hear the 
oft-repeated words, — 

" Come, thou Fount of every blessing, 
Tune my heart to sing thy grace," 

will be glad to form the acquaintance of its author, 
Robert Robinson. 

Those whose heavenly home-sickness has caused them 
oft to sing the hymn, — 

" On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, 
And cast a wishful eye," 

will not be reluctant to be introduced to its writer. 

. Then we meet the full German face of Gerhardt, who 
has banished many a mourner's tear by the solace afforded 
in his precious hymn: — 

" Commit thou all thy griefs 
And ways into his hands. " 

Passing along we meet one whose cheerful and intelli- 
gent expression of countenance at once finds way into 
our hearts, one whose grand missionary hymn has been 
sung 

"From Greenland's icy mountains, 
To India's coral strand." 

If our reader can say with the psalmist, "a day in thy 
courts is better than a thousand" he will gladly welcome 
Dr.Dwight,the author of "I Love thy kingdom^Lord." 



C 



Preface. 



IX 



Near by his side sits one who has helped many a hesi- 
tating sinner into the kingdom, by teaching him to say, 

" Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that thy blood was shed for irie." 

Farther along is one whose lips were wont to say, and 
whose pen has taught the world to sing: — 

" How sweet the name of Jesus sounds." 

The early forests of America gave birth to one whose 
Indian face will be seen among the group. One who 
was 

"Awaked by Sinai's awful sound," 
and then told the story in a hymn that God's children 
have ever since loved to repeat, as expressive of their own 
experience. 

" India's coral strand" has darkened the face of another, 

who has united with the blood bought throng in saying, 

" Thou,, my soul forget no more 
The friend who all thy sorrows bore." 

Passing thus along in alphabetical order, we meet the 
revered countenance of the " Father of Modern Hym- 
nology," and gazing upon his pleasant features, we won- 
der why the object of his affection should have marred 
the serenity of that face, by saying, that while she loved 
the "jewel, she did not admire the casket." Certainly 
those who love to linger on Calvary's mount, will ever 
cherish the name of him, who in our devotions enables 
us to exclaim: — 

"Alas! and did my Saviour bleed? 
And did my Sovereign die?" 

and then to add : — 

11 When T survey the wondrous cross, 
On which the Prince of glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 

And pour contempt on all my pride." 

Near to Watts will be seen the cheerful face of one 




C 



Preface. 



who ranks with him in hymnic honor, one to whom the 
world is indebted for — 

" Jesus, lover of my soul, 

Let me to thy bosom fly." 

Next to Charles Wesley comes the beaming counte- 
nance of his brother, John, whose voice is still echoing 
in his hymn to perishing sinners: — 

" Ho ! every one that thirsts, draw nigh." 

While passing thus around the circle, the reader will 
not fail to pause long enough to gaze upon the youthful 
face of Henry Kirk White, who rode "once upon the 
raging seas" of doubt and fear, and then when "safely 
moored " sang so sweetly of his rescue in 

" The Star— the Star of Bethlehem." 

The reader will no doubt be gratified to find Lady 
Huntingdon among the group; one who has gained a 
world-wide reputation by her gifts and graces, and as 
the author of that heart searching hymn that propounds 
the solemn question : — 

"When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come 
To take thy ransomed people home, 
Shall I among them stand? " 

The interest that clusters around the romantic history 
of Madame Guyon will invite attention to her counte- 
nance, so meek and mild, and awaken desires to become 
better acquainted with her hymns, that still form a part 
of the songs of the sanctuary. 

It will be needless to accompany the reader any fur- 
ther in words of introduction to such hymn-writers as 
the noble hearted Zinzendorf, the saintly Baxter, the 
eccentric Berridge and the heroic Luther, with many 
others whose portraits beautify our gallery; as they are 
"old enough to speak for themselves." 



C 



w 



Preface, 



XI 



C 



In the preparation of this work, we have been aided, 
in the synopsis and in other particulars, by our friend, 
Mr. Francis Jennings, who may be fitly denominated, 
a walking encyclopedia of hymnology. He is a native 
of British soil, around which cluster the most interesting 
associations of hymn history. Having devoted half a 
century in treasuring up dates and facts, it is no wonder, 
that, while his locks are becoming silvered with the 
frosts of many winters, his life-long zeal in this depart- 
ment remains unabated. 

We have also received favors, which we would grate- 
fully acknowledge, from Rev. F. M. Bird, Rev. Dr. E. 
F. Hatfield, Rev. H. Sheeleigh, David Creamer, Esq., 
and Mr. Philip Cressman. 

To Mr. Asa Hull, author of "The Golden Sheaf," and 
other choice music books, we are also indebted for ser- 
vices rendered in harmonizing some of the music contained 
in this volume. 

Of English publications on hymnology, that we have 
found serviceable, we may mention the following " Sing- 
ers and Songs of the Church," by Josiah Miller, M. A. ; 
"Hymn-writers and their Hymns," by Rev. S. W. Chris- 
tophers; "The Methodist Hymn Book and its Asso- 
ciations," by G. J. Stevenson ; " Historical Notes to the 
Lyra German ica," by Theodore Kubler. Of American 
issues: "Historical Sketches of Hymns," by Joseph 
Belcher, D. D. ; "Evenings with the Sacred Poets," by 
Frederick Saunders; and " Trophies of Song," by Rev. 
W. F. Crafts. 

We have been highly favored in opportunities for 
gathering material for a book of this kind, as we have 
been brought into contact with so many pastors and others, 
who have furnished facts and incidents, fresh from their 
observation and experiences. During the past fifteen 
years, in the delivery of courses of Illustrated Sermons, 




1 



XII 



Preface. 



iff 



C 



and in other evangelistic labors, it has been our privilege 
to preach in over six hundred churches, in nineteen states 
of the Union, among twelve different denominations, and 
in the German as well as the English language. 

"With the abundance of matter on hand, for which we 
eannot find room in the present volume, we have arranged, 
Providence permitting, to go on immediately in the prep- 
aration of a second work to embrace mainly historical 
sketches of the hymns and hymn-writers of the present 
century, as well as the origin, singing, and authors of 
children's hymns and Sunday school songs. It will be 
of the same size, and illustrated with as many portraits 
and other engravings, as this book. Many of the por- 
traits are already engraved, while others are in course 
of preparation. 

As there are constantly new facts and incidents trans- 
piring, connected with the singing of hymns, we have 
occasionally introduced floral letters, and in other ways 
have arranged our material in order to have all articles end 
with the bottom of the page, so that other pages can 
easily be inserted in other editions of this work. We 
shall be very grateful to any of our readers, if they can 
furnish us with any additional material for this book, or 
with any incidents or facts suited to our second volume. 
Communications to be sent to 1859 N. 12th Street Phil- 
adelphia Pa. 



June 1875, 



E. M. L. 




W 





( the steel engravings are indicated by an asterisk. * ) 

Portrait of Thomas Ken. * frontispiece. 

Author of " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. " 
Portrait of Henry Alford 35 

Author of " Come, ye thankful people, come. " 
Portrait of Richard Baxter.* 43 

Author of" Lord, it belongs not to my care." 

Baxter before Jeffries 49 

Portrait of John Bsrridge 59 

Author of " happy saints who dwell in light." 
Portrait of Horatius Bonar....! 67 

Author of " I heard the voice of Jesus say." 
Potrait of Phcebe H. Brown 75 

Author of " I love to steal a while away." 
Portrait of Phoebe Cart.* ... 85 

Author of " One sweetly solemn thought." 
Portrait of William Cowper 93 

Author of " There is a fountain filled with blood. " 

The Olney Cottage Prayer Meeting 103 

cowper and his hares 117 

Doddridge's Mother Teaching him from Dutch Tiles 129 

Portrait of Phil'p Doddridge.* 133 

Author of " Grace 'tis a charming: sound. " 



c 



) 



14 



Engravings. 



c: 



Portrait of Timothy Dwight* 151 

Author of "I love thy kingdom, Lord." 
Portrait of Charlotte Elliott 157 

Author of " Just as I am, without one plea. " 
Portrait of John Fawcett, 167 

Author of " Blest be the tie that binds." 
Portrait of Paul Gerhardt 173 

Author of " Commit thou all thy griefs. " 
Portrait of Madame Guyon 185 

Author of " I would love thee, God and Father. " 
Portrait of Henry Harbauqh 191 

Author of " Jesus, I live to thee. " 
Portrait of Reginald Hebep* 203 

Author of "From Greenland's icy mountains." 

View of Greenland's Icy Mountains 209 

Portrait of Rowland Hill 213 

Author of" Cast thy burden on the Lord." 

Rowland Hill's Surrey Chapkl 217 

Portrait of Lady Huntingdon * 221 

Author of " When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come." 

Huss Singing in the Flames of Martyrdom 231 

Portrait of Adoniram Judson* 235 

Author of " Our Father God, who art in heaven. " 
Portrait of John Keble 241 

Author of " Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear. " , 
Portrait of Thomas Ken 245 

Author of " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow." 
Church along side of and the tomb in which Ken was buried 249 
Portrait of Martin Luther* 263 

Author of "All praise to thee, eternal Lord. " 

Luther Singing in the Streets 267 

The Castle of Coburg 271 

Portrait of Samuel Medley 281 

Author of " Awake my soul in joyful lays. " 
Portrait of James Montgomery* 291 

Author of " where shall rest be found." 
Montgomery's Residence* 295 




1 



Engravings. 



15 



^jB 



Portrait of John Nbwton 307 

Author of " How sweet the name of Jesus sounds." 

Monica watchino Augustine's departure 314 

Portrait of Samson Occom 324 

Author of" Awaked by Sinai's awful sound." 
Portrait of KrisIina Pal 331 

Author of " thou my soul forget no more." 
Portrait of Robert RoBiNSon 345 

Author of "Come, thou Fount of every blessing." 
Portrait of John Ryland 351 

Author of" Lord, I would delight in Thee." 
Portrait of HaNS Sachs 355 

Author of " Why vail thy self in gloo n, my heart? " 

Residence of Anne Steel 360 

Portrait of Samuel Stennett 367 

Author of " On Jordan's stormy banks I stand." 
Portrait of Augustus Toplady 381 

Author of " Rock of ages ! cleft for me." 

Abney house where Watts lived and died 388 

Portrait of Isaac Watts* 401 

Author of " Alas ! and did my Saviour bleed." 

Monument to Watts 405 

A scene in an Illustrated Sermon 427 

Portrait of Charles Wesley* 435 

Author of" Jesus, lover of my soul." 

Singingon A, Sinking Vessel 443 

"The Sea" 450 

A young Man sung to Christ 457 

Portrait of John Wesley* 479 

Author of " How happy is the pilgrim's lot. " 
Portrait of Henhy Kirk White 487 

Author of " When marshaled on the nightly plain." 

The Cloudy Pillar Leading the Hosts of Israel 490 

Portrait of Nicholas Zinzendorf 499 

Author of "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness." 
Church Singing in Olden Times 509 



w 





Addison And his hymns ' 25 

"Sing and pray, eternity dawns" 28 

Sarah F. Adams, and "Nearer, my God, to thee" 29 

A blind girl's application of "Nearer, my God, to thee" 30 

Draw me Saviour nearer 32 

Alford and his hymns 34 

King Alfred and his hymns 40 

Baxter and his hymns 42 

Baxter's hymns illustrated before an Indian Massacre 52 

Beddome, author of " Did Christ o 'er sinners weep " 54 

Bernard's hymn 700 years old 56 

Berridge and his hymns , 58 

Bonar and his hymns 66 

Bonar's hymn, "As meant forme" 71 

" " " I was a wandering sheep " 72 

" " Sung to a weary teacher 73 

Origin of " I love to steal awhile away" 74 

Phoebe H. Brown and her hymns 77 

A little girl stealing away to Jesus 81 

A captive girl recovered by a hymn 82 

Phoebe Cary, author of "One sweetly solemn thought" 84 

Gamblers reclaimed by Miss Cary's hymn 86 

Cennick, author of "Jesus my all to heaven is gone" 90 

"Now will I tell to sinners round" 91 

Cowper and his hymns 92 



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w 



18 



Contents. 



C 



Cowper's conversion and hymns relating thereto 96 

Origin of Cowper's second hymn 98 

Cowper's Olney hymns 100 

Birth-place of " There is a fountain filled with blood" 102 

Illustrations of Cowper's hymns 108 

Diversions of Cowper 116 

Origin of "God moves in a mysterious way" 120 

Davies and his hymns 122 

Singing in time of peril 123 

Midnight echo of " Home, sweet home " 125 

Singing the heart open 126 

Conquered by song 127 

Doddrilge and his hymns 128 

Singing of "O happy day" 143 

A hymn of one word 145 

A revival started by singing a hymn 146 

Heaven as represented in song 147 

Origin of " Stand up ! stand up for Jesus " 148 

Dr. Dwight author of " I love thy kingdom, Lord" 150 

Singing in a forsaken church 153 

" heard in the wilderness 154 

A prisoner singing himself into liberty 155 

Miss Elliott and her hymns 156 

'• sir, Fve come, I've come " 161 

"Just as I am" uttered with a dying breath 162 

The young chorister's last hymn 164 

Fawcett and his hymns 166 

Origin of " Blest be the tie that binds" 170 

A sweet hymn born in sorrow 172 

Paul Gerhardt and his hymns 175 

Relief brought while singing 178 

" Relief in Jesus illustrated " 179 

A popular hymn written by a boy ten years old 180 

Grigg and "Behold a stranger at the door" 181 

Gustavus's battle-hymn 182 

Hymns upon the battle field 183 

Madame Guyon and her hymns 184 




w 



Contents. 



10 



^ 



Harbaugh and his hymns 190 

Hart and his hymns 196 

Hymns that "mean me" 199 

Origin of a hymn by quite a young girl 200 

Lines on the portrait of Heber 202 

Heber and his hymns 205 

Origin of "From Greenland's icy mountains" 208 

Origin of" Thou art gone to the grave" 211 

Rowland Hill and his hymns 212 

Lady Huntingdon and her hymns 220 

Incidents illustrating Lady Hundingdon's hymn 226 

A timely interference 228 

Huss singing in the flames of martyrdom.. 230 

Author of "Come, humble sinner in whose breast" 233 

Judson and his hymns 234 

John Keble and his hymns 240 

Kelly and his hymns 243 

Bishop Ken and his hymns 244 

Singing of Ken's hymn before a railroad accident 255 

The doxology in Libby prison 256 

" sung thirty five times in one day 257 

" " " 'mid tears of joy 257 

" heard a mile 260 

A hymn by the author of " The Star Spangled Banner 1 ' 291 

Luther and his hymns .' 262 

Luther's snow song 266 

Lyte ( , Author of " Jesus, I my cross have taken" 274 

Origin of "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide" 276 

Decision for Christ rewarded 277 

A scorner conquered by a hymn... 278 

A hymn deciding a soul's destiny 279 

Medley and his hymns 2S0 

Author of "I would not live alway" 288 

Moore's hymn illustrated 289 

Montgomery and his hymns 290 

Unmarried hymnists : 300 

Neumark's inpromptu hymn 303 




c 



20 



Contents. 



^ 



Newton and his hymns 306 

A mother's prayer and her son's hymn 310 

Illustration of "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds" 316 

Incidents and illustrations of Newton's hymns 317 

Angel sent stanzas 319 

Singing the tears away 321 

Two officers led to Christ by a verse 322 

A popular hymn written by an Indian 324 

Occom's hymn 327 

Occom's hymn illustrated 328 

A dying boy's emphasis to a hymn 329 

A precious hymn by a converted idolater 330 

Krishna Pal's hymn 333 

Palmer and his hymns 334 

"Who is like Jesus, " 337 

Author of "All hail the power of Jesus' name" 338 

Original of " All hail the power of Jesus' name" 339 

"All hail the power of Jesus' name" among savages .340 

"Bring forth the royal diadem" 342 

The hymn that told Jack's experience 343 

Author of (( Come, thou Fount of every blessing" 344 

"Come, thou Fount of every blessing" illustrated 349 

Ryland's hy.un composed during a sermon 350 

Ryland and his hymns...- 353 

Sachs, the shoemaker hymn-writer 354 

Shirley and his hymns 358 

Origin of " My country 'tis of thee " 359 

Anne Steele and her hymns .360 

Remarkable effects attending a closing hymn 364 

Drawn into the gospel net by singing 365 

Stennett and his hymns 366 

Singing " On Jordan's stormy bank " 370 

"Infinite day excludes the night" illustrated 371 

Influence of a blind slave's song 372 

The blind man of the mine '. 373 

Singing a man to Christ 374 

Appropriate hymrs amid Chicago's fire 376 



Contents. 



21 



r 



"That sweet music" 377 

Tennent, and the music he heard while in a trance 378 

Toplady, author of " Rock of Ages " 380 

Alterations in "Rock of Ages" 384 

A babe hid in the cleft of a rock 386 

A man saved by a cleft in a rock 387 

"Rock of ages" uttered with Prince Albert's dying breath 388 

Singing of "Rock of Ages" by fifty operatives 389 

" Rock of ages " floating over a field of death 390 

"Rock of ages" drowning rowdy songs 391 

Clinging close to the rock 392 

The clefts in the rock 393 

" Rock of ages" illustrated 394 

A new version of " Rock of ages " by Ray Palmer 395 

Isaac Watts 396 

Abney house where Watts lived and died 399 

The monument of Watts 404 

Origin of "How vain are all things here below" 407 

Origin of Watt's first hymn 408 

Origin of "There is a land of pure delight" 408 

Effects of singing "Give me the wings of faith to rise" 409 

A heart broken by a hymn , 4 1 o 

Hymns upon the battle field 412 

Hymns making a bloody impression 413 

Illustrations of "Not all the blood of beasts." 414 

Conversion through the illustration of a hymn 415 

" My faith would lay her hand " illustrated 416 

A pirate vessel driven away by the singing of Watts' hymn 417 

The closed lips 418 

A singular coincidence 419 

Illustrations of " Alas! and did my Saviour bleed" 420' 

Watts' hymn illustrated 421 

"Here, Lord, I give myself away " illustrated 422 

" A guilty, weak and helpless worm" illustrated 423 

"Love so amazing, so divine" illustrated 424 

Singing lies '. 425 

A hymn illustrated while it was being sung 426 




i 



22 



Contents. 




r 



Illustrations of "Come, Holy Spirit heavenly dove ' T 429 

A hymn that a church refused to sing 430 

A hymn that woke up the sleepers 431 

Different illustrations of Watts' hymns 432 

Xerxes illustrating "And must this body die" 433 

Charles Wesley and his hymns 434 

Charles Wesley's last hymn 437 

Origin of "0 for a thousand tongues to sing'' 438 

"A charge to keep I have " illustrated by its author 439 

Origin of "Jesus lover of my soul" 440 

"Jesus lover of my soul" sung on a sinking vessel 442 

Dr. Cuyler's use of "Jesus lover of my soul" 445 

A mother floating out at sea singing "Jesus lover of soul" 4-16 

Singing an enemy away 447 

"Jesus lovar of my soul" in a hurricane 448 

The last hymn on a wrecked vessel 449 

"Like the sea" 450 

Singing as death's " billows near me roll " 452 

The drummer boy's last hymn 454 

Effects of singing "Jesus lover of my soul" 456 

Dr. Beecher's last utterance of " Jesus lover of my soul" 460 

An accident the occasion of a hymn ...461 

Cross bearing in song 462 

An actress and " Depth of mercy " 464 

Origin of " Come, thou all victorious Lord" 465 

Wesley's hymn in an alley 466 

The death song of a murdered Christian 468 

A mob occasioning a hymn 469 

Origin of " Lo ! on a narrow neck of land " 470 

Illustration of " Lo ! on a narrow neck of land " 471 

Passing away 472 

A man dropping dead after the singing of a hymn 473 

Eternal things impress 474 

Illustration of " Give me the enlarged desire " 475 

An evening funeral song 476 

" Why I shall sing forever" '. 477 

John Wesley and his hymns 478 



1 




Contents. 23 



Hymn sung by Wesley when dying 482 

Wesley's hymn Illustrated by " Foolish Dick" .483 

Wesley singing at the table 484 

Singing around Mrs. Wesley's body the moment after death 485 

Henry Kirk White and his hymns 486 

William Williams and his hymns 490 

Illustrations of "Guide me, thou great Jehovah" 492 

Singing Satan away 494 

The name that makes "devils fear and fly" 495 

Walford, author of " Sweet hour of prayer " 496 

Xavier and his hymn 497 

Zinzendorf and his hymns 498 

Department of church singing and music 503 

Churches opposed to singing 504 

Singing in America two centuries ago 506 

Old style hymnology 507 

Church singing in olden times 5C8 

A hyom illustrated by a choir leader 511 

Expressive epitaph of a chorister 512 

A hymn illustrated by a thunder storm 513 

Iucidents of the tune of Old Hundred 514 

Hymns disjointed by fugue tunes 516 

Massacre of church music 518 

Choir difficulties 519 

Solemn mockery in singing 520 

Old Adam manifested in song 521 

A clergyman in a fix 523 

Inappropriate hymns 520 

Roman Catholic hymns 526 

The braying of an ass imitated in church song 527 

A maniac subdued by the singing of a hymn 523 

A life saved by singing 530 

Saved by the attraction of music 531 

Solomon's song 532 

A ruffian charmed 533 

The singing of Ira D. Sankey 534 

Synopsis of hvmn- writers 537-558 







ILLUSTRATED HISTORY 

OF 

J| H tit 11 § and Ujrir |»t$ir§, 



c 



Addison and his Hymns. 

tlVE hymns have floated down the stream of time, 
during the past one hundred and sixty years, that have 
become so endeared to the people of God that scarcely 
any church hymn-book can be found without them. 
They are the production of the polished and refined 
pen of Addison. He was born at Milston, England, 
in 1672, and was the son of an Episcopal clergyman. 

In early life he gave many evidences of a precocious 
intellect. A poem to King William, in 1695, and one 
in 1695, on the " Peace of Ryswick," procured him a 
pension of 300£. a year. With this pecuniary aid he was 
enabled in earlv manhood to extend his knowledge of 
the world by travel. While in this pursuit he met 



1) 



26 



Addison's Hymns. 



c 



with many narrow escapes from death on sea and land. 
It is supposed, when in after years he glanced over these 
many dangers, he felt inspired to say, in the language of 
his well-known hymn, — 

' ; When all thy mercies, my God, 
My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view, I'm lost 
In wonder, love and praise.'' 

After publishing his travels and other works, he rose 
in popular favor till in 1717 he obtained the responsible 
position of Secretary of State. 

His hymns were attached to articles written for The 
Spectator. The first of the immortal five appeared July 
26, 1712, at the end of an essay on "Trust in God," in 
which he says: "The person who has a firm trust in the 
Supreme Being is powerful in His power, wise by His 
wisdom, happy by His happiness. He reaps the benefit 
of every Divine attribute, and loses his own insufficiency 
in the fulness of infinite perfection," which beautiful 
truths he sets forth in poetic form in his hymn : — 

"The Lord my pasture shall prepare, 
And feed me with a Shepherd s care, 
His presence shall my wants supply, 
And guard me with a watchful eye ; 
My noon-day walks he shall attend, 
And all my midnight hours defend." 

The following month, August 23, he sent forth his next 



hymn, attached to an article on "The 



right 



means to 



strengthen faith/ 1 in which he would lead us up to 

"The spacious firmament on high, 
With all the blue ethereal sky," 

and show us how the spangled heavens 

" utter forth a glorious voice; 

For ever singing as they shine, — 
The hand that made us is divine." 

A month later, September 20, appeared a paper on 




$) 



Addison's hymns continued. 



27 



"The Sea," to which he afterwards added the hymn: — 

" How are thy servants blessed, Lord ! 
How sure is their defence." 

It had originally ten verses. In one he beautifully says, 

" The storm is laid, the winds ratire, 
Obedient to thy will ; 
The sea, that roars at thy command, 
At thy command is still." 

The last hymn appeared the month following, October 
18, 1716. In the prose article that preceded, it is said, 
"Among all the reflections which usually arise in the 
mind of a sick man, who has time and inclination to 
consider his approaching end, there is none more natural 
than that of his going to appear naked and unbodied 
before Him, who made him." 

"When, rising from the bed of death, 
O'erwhelmed with guilt and fear, 
I see my Maker face to face — 
Oh! how shall I appear?" 

When his dying hour drew near, it was with such 
calm composure that he could look ahead to the time 
when he should meet his " Maker face to face," that he 
sent for his step-son, the Earl of Warwick, saying with 
all the solemnity of death's surroundings, those ever 
memorable words: — "I have sent for you, that you may 
see how a Christian can die." 

To this a poet thus refers : — 

" He taught us how to live ; and Oh ! too high 
The price of knowlege ! taught us how to die." 

He died at the Holland House, June 17, 1719. 

Although unable to finish his intended version of the 

Psalms, yet he can now fulfil his heart's desire as thus 

expressed in one of his hymns : — 

"Through all eternity to thee 

A joyful song I'll raise ; 

Cut oh ! eternity's too short 

To utter all thy praise." 




£ 



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28 



Addison's hymns continued. 



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G 



" Sing and Pray, Eternity Dawns. " 

HEN the Rev. Dr. Eddy was suddenly confronted 
with the idea, contained in Addison's hymn, of 
meeting his " Maker face to face," he could joyously 
answer the question : — 

" Oh! how shall I appear?" 

When, by medical advice, the unexpected news was 
first communicated to him, he welcomed it with great 
calmness. After adjusting his worldly affairs, "he 
marched rapidly to his end, a shouting victor all the 
way." 

To Bishop Janes he remarked, "I am resting in Jesus, 
O so sweetly! A poor sinner saved by grace, but saved" 

" Beyond the parting and the meeting, 
I shall be soon. 
Beyond the farewell and the greeting, 
Beyond the pulse's fever beating, 
I shall be soon. " 

As his weeping family gathered around his death-bed, 
he extended his hands over them, and pronounced the 
apostolic benediction. 

His joyous countenance seemed to be lit up as with 
light streaming through the gates of the celestial city. 
In his ecstacy of joy he raised his trembling hands laying 
to clasp them, but unable to guide them in his weakness, 
they would pass each other while, with clear voice, he 
would sing out, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" His last 
words were, "Sing and pray, eternity dawns." 

Thus amid the songs of earth, he passed to the halle- 
lujahs above. Well may we say with Watts : — 

" My willing soul would stay 
In such a frame as this, 
And sit and sing herself away 
To everlasting bliss. " 




D 



Sarah F. Adams. 



29 



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c 



Author of "Nearer, my God, to Thee. " 

/foHIS language was the heart-utterance of Mrs. Sarah 
(^ Flower Adams, daughter of Benjamin Flower, editor 
of The Cambridge Intelligencer, and wife of William 
B. Adams, an eminent engineer, and also a contributor 
to some of the principal newspapers and reviews. 

She was born February 22, 1805. 

Her mother is described as a lady of talent, as was her 
elder sister, Eliza, who was also an authoress. 

She was noted in early life for the taste she manifested 
for literature, and in maturer years, for great zeal and 
earnestness in her religious life, which is said to have 
produced a deep impression on those who met with her. 
Mr. Miller says: "The prayer of her own hymn, * Near- 
er, my God, to Thee/ had been answered in her own 
experience. Her literary tastes extended in various di- 
rections. She contributed prose and poetry to the peri- 
odicals, and her art-criticisms were valued. She also 
wrote a Catechism for children, entitled l The Flock at 
the Fountain' (1845). It is Unitarian in its sentiment, 
and is interspersed Avith hymns. She also wrote a dra- 
matic poem, in five aets, on the martyrdom of 'Vivia 
Perpetual This was dedicated to her sister, in some 
touching verses. Her sister died of a pulmonary com- 
plaint in 1847, and attention to her in her affliction 
enfeebled her own health, and she also gradually wore 
away, ' almost her last breath bursting into unconscious 



song. 



>» 



Thus illustrating the last stanza: — 

"Sun, moon, and stars forgot, 
Upward I fly, 
Still all my sono; shall be, 
Nearer, my God, to Thee. " 

She died August 13, 1849, eight years after the issue 
of her popular hymn, and was buried in Essex, England. 



W 



30 



S. F. Adams' hymn illustrated. 



HJT 



A Blind Girl's Utterance of "Nearer my God." 

/j/TTE condense a touching narrative as given by an anon- 
cp9 ymous writer. Ethel Bent had been for weeks 
stretched upon a sick bed, where she was brought nigh 
unto death. The disease had so affected her eyes that 
she had to be kept in a dark room, and it was feared 
that if she did get well she might still lose her eyesight. 

Ethel could not believe it possible that so dread a 
calamity could overtake her. While alone, one Sabbath 
morning, she said to herself in her darkened chamber, 
"The Bible says 'we are not tried above that we are able 
to bear, and I could not endure that. Oh! no, I shall 
not be blind." While musing thus a low sweet voice 
near her said : " Sister Ethel, may I come in ? " 

"Why yes, Ruthie, if you want to." 

" I wanted to recite my hymn to you ; it is some new 
verses to ' Nearer my God, to thee, ' and I like them so 
much." 

"Well dear say them ; I dont mind." 

" If where they lead my Lord, 

I, too. be borne, 
Planting my steps in his, 

Weary and worn — 
May the path carry me 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 

Nearer to Thee!" 

" That's not for me, " thought Ethel, "it means the 
old-time martyrs." She tried to shake off the feeling. 
How could the dark path bring her nearer to God ! 

But the childish voice continued, — - 

"If Thou the cup of pain 
Givest to drink, 
Let not my trembling lips 

From the draught shrink ; 
So by my woes to be 
Nearer, my God, Thee, 
Nearer to Thee !'' 




c 



II 



S. F. Adams' hymn illustrated. 



31 




c 



" Never mind finishing it Ruthie; my head aches, and I 
want to be alone. " 

Once the thin, white hand was raised as if to dash 
"the cnp of pain" from her lips. 

Days passed. As her strength came back the inflam- 
mation in her eyes decreased. She no longer spoke of 
her hopes and fears. She looked more and more calmly 
at her cross. The path, though dark, had one ray of 
light, which, if followed, must bring her to her Saviour, 
for it came from him. 

One day she cried, "O mamma! I cannot wait; let 
the light in now;" but her mother said, "Have patience 
darling; the noon-day is too bright; I will promise you 
to let the morning sun into your room. " 

All day long she waited, her lips moving in prayer. 
The morning dawned. 

"Open the blinds wide mamma; let in all the light 
you can before I take oif the bandage. " 

She turned toward the window; on her bare arms she 
felt the warm sun and morning breese, but no light came 
to her eyes. 

"Mamma, mamma, why are you so silent? Is the 
room light? " 

Her mother's low pained voice answered "My darling, 
the sun shines in your face. " 

She sank upon her knees; the clasped hands where up- 
lifted, as if reaching for something unattainable; the face 
quivered with inward anguish; but the expression of her 
sightless eyes was more beautiful than in their days of 
undenied beauty they had ever been. 

As her mother bent over her she heard the pale lips 
whisper — 

u So by my woes to be 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. " 




1 



32 



Hymn by Edwin 31. Long. 



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DRAW ME, SAVIOUR, NEARER. 

Words and Music by Rev. E. M. Long. 




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Hymn by E. 31. Long continued. 



33 



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As the eagles soaring, 
Higher and higher ascend, 

Thus, while Thee adoring, 
Upward I would tend. 

Further from earth and sin away, 

Nearer heaven's perfect day ; 

Even now, oh, may I be 

Drawn still closer, closer to thee. 

Closer, closer, closer to thee. 

As the river flowing, 

Ever draws nearer the sea, 

Thus would I keep g«ing, 
Till I'm lost in thee. 

Daily advance and grow in grace, 

Till I see thee face to face, 

Then I'll sing eternally, 

Drawn still closer, closer to thee. 

Closer, closer, closer to thee. 



fAYS Jesus, "And J, if I be lifted up from the earth, 
will draw all men unto me. " 

The sainted Alfred Cookman remarked on his death- 
bed, " Jesus is drawing me closer and closer to his great 
heart of infinite love." To his wife he said, "I am 
Christ's little infant. Just as you fold your little babe 
to your bosom, so I amnestied close to the heart of Jesus. " 

Albert Barnes, commenting on Christians mounting 
"up with wings as eagles," says: "The image is de- 
rived from the fact that the eagle rises on the most vig- 
erous wing of any bird, and ascends apparently farther 
towards the sun. The figure denotes strength and vigor 
of purpose; strong and manly piety; an elevation above 
the world; communion with God, and a nearness to his 
throne — as the eagle ascends towards the sun." 

"Ah," said a dying soldier, "tell my mother that last 
night there was not one cloud between my soul and 
Jesus. " 



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34 



Henry Afford and Jus hymns. 



r 



Alford and his Hymns. 

|EAN HENRY ALFORD was a son of an Episcopal 
clergyman of the same name. He was born in 1810, 
and closed his earthly career in 1871. He is widely 
known through his great work, "The Greek Testament 
with Notes." 

He began very early in life to " make his mark, " — at 
least his pencil marks. For in his memoir it is stated 
that when only six y.ears of age he wrote and illustrated 
a book of fourteen pages, three inches by two in size. 
"The travels of St Paul from his Conversion to his Death, 
with a book of Plates. " 

When ten years old he made a more durable mark with 
ink, in a work that he wrote entitled : "Looking unto 
Jesus, or the Believers Support under Trials and Afflic- 
tions. By Henry Alford Jun. 1st edition." 

At this time he began to court the Muses, and in his 
eleventh year composed "A Collection of Hymns for Sun- 
diy Occasions." Among the number is one that begins -»- 

"Life is a journey, heaven is our home," ' 

and ends with this verse: — 

" Just as the school-boy longing for his home, 
Leaps forth for gladness when the hour is come ; 
So true believers, eager for the skies, 
Released by death on wings of triumph rise. - ' 

The figure drawn from a school-boy's experience, came 
readily to him at this period; for at tjiis time he was at- 
tending a new school he did not like, and had some 
symptons of that old complaint, called home-sickness. 

In his sixteenth year lie wrote in his Bible, "I do this 
day, as in* the presence of God, and my own soul, renew 
my covenant with God. and solemnly determine hence- 
forth to become His, and do His work as far as in me 
lies." 




HENRY ALFORD. 



Alford's hymns continued. 



37 



•&' 



c 



"Saying grace'' he did not simply reserve for meal 
time. But also as he obtained 'food for the mind. 
And so habituated did he become in this that as he clos- 
ed his books after a hard day's study, he would "stand 
up as at the end of a meal, and thank God for what he 
had received. " 

This early habit of acknowledging God in all his 
ways, of constantly looking for divine guidance was after- 
wards richly rewarded in his eventful life. It also found a 
natural expression in the beautiful hymn that he wrote 
when but sixteen years of age. A hymn well worthy 
to stand by the side of Williams' grand invocation: — 
"Guide me, thou great Jehovah.'' 

We are glad to meet with it in some American 



hymnals, lately issued. We give it herewith: — 

" Forth to the land of promise bound, 

Our desert path we tread ; 
God's fiery pillar for our guide, 

His Captain at our head. 
"E'en now we faintly trace the hills, 
And catch their distant blue; 
And the bright city' s gleaming spires 
Rise dimly on our view. 
" Soon, when the desert shall be crossed, 
The flood of death past o'er, 
Our pilgrim host shall safely land 
On Canaan's peaceful shore. 

M There love shall have its perfect work, 

And prayer be lo?t in praise ; 
And all the servants of our God 
Their endless anthems raise. " 

His "Poetical Works" reached a fourth edition in 
1865. In 1867 he issued a collection of hvmns entitled, 

ml t 

" ilie Year of Praise," of which 55 were of his own 
composition. One is found in nearly all collections, 
commencing, 

" Come, ye thankful people, come." 




J 



38 



Alf or d' s hymns continued. 



°& 



While once waiting for some bishops he wrote: — 

" I'm glad I'm not a bishop, 
To have to walk in gaiters, 
And get my conduct pulled about 
By democrat dictators." 

Alforcl manifested wonderful powers of versatility. 
It is said, "He was a painter, a mechanic, a musician. 
He was a poet, a preacher, a scholar, and a critic." 

He loved to contemplate the 

" raptured greeting 

On Canaan's happy shore. " 

Say he, " Our thoughts have been much turned of late 
to the eternal state. Half of our children are there, and 
where the treasure is there will the heart be also." One 
of his most popular hymns vividly pictures the glories 
of the redeemed. The singing of it formed part of his 
own funeral service. In it he says ; 

" Ten thousand times ten thousand, 
In sparkling raiment bright, 
The armies of the ransomed saints 

Throng up the steeps ot light. 
'Tis finished — all is finished — 

Their fight with Death and Sin : 
Fling open wide the golden gates, 
And let the victors in. 

"What rush of hallelujahs 
Fills all the earth and sky ! 
What ringing of a thousand harps 

Bespeaks the triumph nigh ! 
day for which creation, 
And all its tribes were made ; 
joy, for all its former woes 
A thousand fold repaid. 

" then what raptured greetings 
On Canaan's happy shore ; 
What knitting severed friendships up 

Where partings are no more, 
Then eyes with joy shall sparkle, 

That brimmed with tears of !ate ; 
Orphans no longer fatherless, 
Nor widows desolate. " 



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w 



AlforoVs hymns continued. 



39 



C 



As a member of the Evangelical Alliance, and in 
many other ways, Alford evinced a catholic spirit that 
endeared him to many outside of his own branch of the 
church. Asking a neighboring clergyman to help him 
find a curate, he said, "I want him to teach and preach 
Jesus Christ and not the church, and to be fully prepared 
to recognize the pious Dissenter as a brother in Christ, 
and as much a member of the church as ourselves." 

In his sixtieth year he was compelled by failing health 
to heed his physician's advice and "do nothing," and 
soon after entered into the rest that remaineth to the 
people of God. 

On his tomb was carved, by his request, the expressive 
words : — 

THE INN OF A TRAVELLER ON HIS WAY TO JERUSALEM. 

In his dying moments he sweetly realized the desire 
of his heart as expressed in the following hymn, which 
was sung in the great cathedral on the day of his fu- 
neral : — 

"Jesus, when I fainting.lie, 
And the world is flitting by, 

Hold up my head. 
When the cry is ' Thou must die, ' 
And the dread hour draweth nigh, 
Stand by my bed. 

' Jesus, when the worst is o'er, 
And they bear me from the door, 

Meet the sorrowing throng. 
'Weep not,' let the mourner hear, 
"Widow's woe and orphans' tear 

Turn into song. 

"Jesus, in the last great day, 
Come thou down and touch my clay, 

Speak the word ' Arise ; ' 
Friend to gladsome friend restore, 
Living, praying evermore 
Above the skies." 



40 



Hymn by Alfred the Great. 



*&' 



King Alfred's Hymn. 

§NE thousand years ago there lived a Christian King 
who ascended the English throne in 871, and was 
justly distinguished as " Alfred the Great. " Although 
he was twelve years old before he was taught the alpha- 
bet, yet he afterwards applied himself with such diligence 
to his studies that he became celebrated as the author of 
numerous works, the founder of seminaries and of the 
University of Oxford. 

Though burdened with the cares of a kingdom, he 
could find time and pleasure in greeting the morning 
light with songs of praise, and saying with King David, 
"Yea, I will sing aloud' of thy mercy in the morning." 
This is evident from his sweet morning hymn, which 
was translated by Earl Nelson, and which still finds a 
place in different church hymn-books. It begins thus: — 

" As the sun doth daily rise 
. Bright'ning all the morning skies, 
So to thee with one accord 
Lift we up our hearts, Lord ! 

After many conflicts with the Danes, who invaded his 
land, he was at last compelled for a time to abandon his 
throne, and conceal himself in disguise in a cottage of 
one of his herdsmen. While performing menial service 
in his hiding-place his hostess gave him a severe repre- 
mand for permitting some oatmeal cakes to be burned, 
which, while baking, she had directed him to watch; 
saying, "No wonder thou art a poor houseless vagrant 
with such neglect of business, I shall set by all the burnt 
cakes for thy portion of the week's bread, and thou shalt 
have no other till they are all eaten ." Dependent thus 
on others for his daily bread, although a King, he could 
in after years feel the import of his words addressed 
to the King of Kings in the second verse of his hymn, — 




C 



Alfred's hymn continued. 



41 



C 



" Day by day provide us food, 
For from thee come all things good ; 
Strength unto our souls afford 
From thy living Bread, Lord ! 

In the defence of his country he was compelled to fight 
no less than fifty six battles by sea or land, in which he 
exposed himself to innumerable dangers, and no doubt 
often uttered the prayer contained in the third verse, — 

" Be onr Guard in sin and strife ; 
Be the Leader of our life; 
Lest like sheep we stray abroad, 
Stay our wayward feet, Lord! 

Having translated the Psalms into English, and con- 
stantly carried a copy in his bosom, the fourth verse 
was certainly the language of his heart : — 

11 Quickened by the Spirit's grace, 
All thy holy will to trace, 
While we daily search thy Word 
Wisdom true impart, Lord! 

The hordes that stole around at night and rendered 
life insecure, gave emphasis to his figure of the fifth verse, 

" When hours are dark and drear, 
When the Tempter lurketh near, 
By thy strength'ning grace outpoured, 
Save the tempted ones, Lord ! 

Before a critical battle with the pagans, Alford man- 
aged to get into the ranks of the enemy disguised as a 
travelling minstrel, and with his harp and enrapturing 
song, was enabled so to win their applause that they 
detained him three days and nights. 

The knowledge he thus obtained of the position and 
forces of the foe, was the means of saving his country. 
After he became victor, many of the pagans remained 
in England, renounced their idolatry, and were baptized 
on profession of their Christian faith. 



1) 



42 



Richard Baxter and his hymns. 




Author of "Lord, it belongs not to my care. " 

01) HE name of Richard Baxter is endeared to many 
C<g) through the reading of his two widely known books, 
The Call to the Unconverted, and the Saints' Ever- 
lasting Rest: He was born at Rowton, in Shropshire, 
England, on the 12th of November, 1615. 

His conversion took place when about the age of fifteen, 
by reading "an old torn book, lent by a poor man to his 
father, entitled l Bunny's Resolutions.' " " Sibb's Bruised 
Reed,'" was also of great assistance. Thus says he: 
" Without any means but books, was God pleased to re- 
solve me for Himself." 

Montgomery gives Baxter a place among the poets of 
England. Of his hymns and poems, contained in the 
volume, entitled, " Poetical Fragments" he says that 
they are "far above mediocrity in many passages of 
poetry." 

As tunes were not numerous in those days, Baxter 



prepared some of his hymns so that they could be sung 
either as long or common metre, by using or omitting 
the words contained in brackets. He claimed to be the 
inventor of this plan. We herewith give a specimen 
of a part of his version of the twenty-third Psalm : — 

"The Lord himself my Sheperd is, 

Who doth me feed and [ safely ] keep ; 
What can I want that's truly good, 
While I am [one of] his own sheep? 

" He makes me to lie down and rest 

In [pleasant] pastures, tender grass; . 
He keeps, and gently leadeth me 
Near [the sweet] stream of quietness. 

u . My failing soul he doth restore, 

And lead [in safe] and righteous ways, 
And all this freely that his grace, 
And [holy] name may have the praise." 




c 




'rVJW Paradv 



:^ 

! 



Richard Baxter continued. 



45 




c: 



Baxter prepared a metrical version of the Psalms 
which was issued the year after his death. One of his 
hymns is almost universally found in hymn books. 
It is one among the many influences that he set in mo- 
tion two centuries ago, that still lives. In the original 
it consists of eight eight-line stanzas, and begins : — 

" My whole, though broken heart, Lord ! 
From henceforth shall be thine. " 

It was entitled, "The Covenant and Confidence of 
Faith." At the end he adds the following note: — "This 
convenant my dear wife, in her former sickness, sub- 
scribed with a cheerful will. " 

We will embody it among some of the many incidents of 
his life that illustrate its sentiments. The first verse as 
now in use commences, — 

" Lord, it belongs not to my care 
Whether I die or live." 

Baxter had a bodily frame so frail that it seemed ready 
at any time to fall to pieces. 

His studious habits he explained on this wise, "Weak- 
ness and pain helped me to study how to die; that set 
me to study how to live. " When on his death bed the 
intensity of pain constrained him to pray to God for his 
release by death, he would check himself by saying, "'It is 
not for me to prescribe: when thou wilt, what thou wilt, 
how thou wilt. " 

To this language a half century later Dr. Watts re- 
fered in his dying moments, "it is good to say as did 
Mr Baxter, ' What, when, and where God pleases.' " 

When Baxter first went to Kidderminster the people 
were "ignorant, coarse and of loose manners; supersti- 
tious , sensual and easily roused to deeds of violence and 
brutal outrage;" and yet that wilderness became as the 
garden of the Lord through the faithful labors of this 
man of God. 



46 



Richard Baxter continued. 



He toiled and prayed until it could be said "from every 
house within his pastorate there was daily the all but 
ceaseless voice of psalms and hymns. He was literally 
compassed about with songs of deliverance." 

Family worship was generally practiced among his peo- 
ple. He says that as one passed along the street on a 
Sabbath evening, " one might hear a hundred families 
singing psalms and repeating sermons. " 

Although he observed great strictness in the admission 
to the church yet his membership increased to six hun- 
dred communicants ; he says there were not twelve of 
whom he had not a good hope. 

A hundred years later, Dr. Fawcett, one of his succes- 
sors says, " the religious spirit thus happily introduced 
bv Baxter is yet to be traced in the town and neighbor- 
hood." 

He spoke of Kidderminster as a "place which had the 
chiefest of my labors, and yielded me the greatest fruits 
and comfort." He told the people that he came with his 
heart stirred up " to speak to sinners with some compas- 
sion, as a dying man to dying men." Here it was he uttered 
his loud "Call to the Unconverted," and in his earnest 
preaching exemplified his couplet: — 

" I'd preach as though I ne'er should preach again, 
And as a dying man to dying men." 

This was indeed characteristic of Baxter throughout 
a long life; even when near four score years of age 
lie still staggered up the pulpit steps to proclaim the 
gospel. 

An old gentleman, who heard him preach, related that 
when he ascended the pulpit, with a man following him 
to prevent his falling backward, and to support him, if 
needful in the pulpit, many persons would be ready to 
say he was more fit for the coffin, than for the pulpit. 

It was feared the last time he preached that he would 




w 



Richard Baxter continued. 



47 



c; 



have died in the pulpit. Well did he illustrate the sen- 
timent of the second verse of his hymn — 

" If life be long I will be glad, 
That I may long obey ; 
If short yet why should I be sad 
To soar to endless day ? " 

May 1662, the king set his seal of approval to the 
famous " Act of Conformity/' by which every clergyman 
of the Church of England must, on the 24th of August 
following, "openly and publickly, before the congrega- 
tion there assembled, declare his unfeigned assent and 
consent to the use of all things " in the " Book of Common 
Prayer." 

Baxter was among the two thousand godly ministers 
who were willing to leave their weeping flocks, and their 
pecuniary support, to face poverty and persecution for 
conscience's sake. As many were not silenced by this, 
the "Conventical Act" was passed in 1664, by which "the 
meeting of more than four persons in any other manner 
than allowed by the liturgy and practice of the Church 
of England is forbidden," under a penalty of a fine or 
imprisonment. To prevent the Non-conformist ministers 
beino* even among their flocks, the "Five Mile Act" 
followed, which prevented them from coming or being 
within five miles of any city or town corporate, or any 
place where they had at any time exercised their ministry. 

Although Baxter yielded obedience to the law so far as 
to abstain from public preaching, yet he kept up family 
worship, and as some, of their own accord, would drop in 
and swell the number beyond the legal limit of "four," 
a warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was incarcer- 
ated for six months in Clerkenwell prison. 

Some years later having dared to deliver five sermons, 
and to live in a corporate town, his enemies seized him 
again. His goods were taken from him and sold, "even 



48 



Richard Baxter continued. 




C 



to the bed that he lay sick on." " When they had 
taken and sold all" he says, "and I had borrowed some 
bedding and necessaries " of the buyer, I was never the 
quieter." 

At length when unable to find any other fault, they 
discovered a comment in his " Paraphrase on the New 
Testament" in which he had written some censures on 
persecuting prelates, and on closing the mouths of godly 
ministers who sought to preach in the name of their 
Master. This, as they thought, justified the charge of se- 
dition which they now brought against him. He was 
summoned to appear for his trial before the notorious 
Jeffries. This furnished the Judge an opportunity to 
give vent to his coarse, vulgar spleen. To empty the 
vials ot his wrath upon the head of an innocent old man. 

After calling him a rogue, rascal, an old blockhead, 
an unthankful villain, and other vile epithets, Baxter 
ventured to put in a word of explanation. " Richard, 
Richard," roared the judge, "dost thou think we will 
hear thee poison the court? 

"Richard, thou art an old fellow, an old knave; thou 
hast written books enough to load a cart, every one as 
full of sedition, I might say treason, as an egg is full of 
meat. Hadst thou been whipped out of the trade forty 

years ago, it had been happy Come, what do you 

say for yourself, you old knave? — come speak up. What 
doth he say? I am not afraid of you, for all the snivel- 
ing calves you have got about you," (alluding to some 
persons near Baxter who were in tears). 

To this shameful tirade Baxter meekly replied, "These 
things will be understood some day, and lifting up his 
eyes to heaven he added; "I am not concerned to an- 
swer such stuff; but am ready to produce my writings for 
refutation of all this; and my life and conversation are 
known to many in this nation. " 



& 



B=£^&& 



Stetsr 




Richard Baxter continued. 



51 



As neither justice nor mercy could be obtained before 
this tribunal, Baxter was pronounced guilty. 

While afterwards confined for two years in the dark 
cells of a prison, and comparing his mock trial with the one 
through which his Saviour passed, he could draw com- 
fort from the third stanza of his hymn : — 

" Christ leads me through no darker rooms 
Than He went through before ; 
He that into God's kingdom comes, 
Must enter by this door." 

Notwithstanding his life-long weakness and pains — the 
bitter persecution and cruel imprisonments, Baxter did 
a marvelous amount of labor. His works number one 
hundred and sixty-eight, which, it is said would make a 
library themselves, of sixty volumes of five hundred 
octavo pages each. And yet when reminded on his death- 
bed of his good deeds, he replied : " I was but a pen in 
God's hand, and what praise is due to a pen." In trium- 
phant peace and joy, he ended his days December 8, 1691. 

"I have pains" said he, "there is no arguing 
against sense: but I have peace, I have peace." When 
asked, "How are you?" his answer was, "Almost wellP 
This thought is brought out in a verse of his hymn: — 



" My knowledge of that life is small, 
The^eye of faith is dim ; 
But 'tis enough that Christ knows all, 
And I shall be with Him." 

While contemplating " the innumerable company " in 
heaven spoken of in Heb. xii. 22, of which he was soon 
to form a part he said, "It deserves a thousand — thou- 
sand thoughts. . Oh how comfortable the promise that 
eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
into the heart of man, the things which God hath pre- 
pared for them that love Him." To a friend he said 
these, his last words, " The Lord teach you how to die." 




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52 



Baxter's hymn illustrated. 



c 



A Hymn Sung before an Indian Massacre. 

TTRRING scenes were witnessed in the 
early history of our country. 

The following fact given in the Hallean 
Annals, contains an exclamation in time 
of clanger, that was almost the literal 
language of the first verse of Baxter's 
hymn : — 

" Lord, it belongs not to my care 
Whether I die or live." 

In the early settlement of our country 
about the year 1750, there were frequent 
scenes of sudden death through the 
sudden invasion of the Indian savage. 
Among the catechumens of the Luth- 
eran pioneer missionary, the Rev. H. 
M. Muhlenburg, at New Holland, Pa., 
were two grown daughters, who, after 
their reception into the church, removed 
with their father to a farm near the 
Blue Mountains. At this period the Indian war was 
raging, rendering life very insecure in those forests. 

One Friday evening, in the fall of the year, they told 
their father thaj they felt as though they had not long 
to live, and proposed singing the following appropriate 
German hymn, in which their voices all united: — 

" Wer weiss wie nahe mir mein ende ? ' 

which has been translated into English thus: — 

"Who knows how near my life's expended? 

Time flies, and death is hasting on ; 
How soon, my term of trial ended, 

May heave my last expiring groan ! 
For Jesus' sake, when flesh shall fail, 
"With me, God, may all be well ! 





I 



Baxter's hymn illustrated. 



53 



*f" 



c 



" My many sins ! — oh, vail them over 

With merits of thy dying Son ! 
I here thy richest grace discover, — 

flere find I peace, and here alone : 
And for his sake, when flesh shall fail, 
With me, God, may it be well ! 

a His bleeding wounds give me assurance 

That thy free mercy will abide ; 
Here strength I find for death's endurance, 

.And hope for all I need beside: 
For Jesus' sake, when flesh shall fail, 

With me, God, may it be well!" 

After singing they united in prayer and retired to 
rest. Next morning while the father was in his fields 
looking for his horses, he saw two Indians swiftly ap- 
proaching with deadly weapons. He was so terrified 
that he knew not what to do, and seemed unable to move. 

As they came near, he cried out, " Lord Jesus, to 
thee Hive! O Lord Jesus, to thee L die." This excla- 
mation seemed to have paralized the Indians, while he at 
once was inspired with new strength, with which he was 
enabled to outrun the Indians, and thus escaped to a dis- 
tant woods. From thence he hastened to some neighbors 
to procure help, so as to defend his children and property. 
But alas! as he drew near, the terrible noise and crying 
of old and young, revealed the fact that the Indians were 
there also, doing their deadly work. Hastening home- 
wards to see after his children, he saw the flames of his 
own house and barn rising over the tree-tops, and heard the 
terrible bellowing of his cattle that were burning up alive.' 

By the time he reached his former home it was in 
ashes; his eldest daughter was also consumed that nothing 
but a few fragments of her body were left; the second 
was yet alive, but scalped, cut and gashed from head to 
foot with the tomahawk. As she was still able to speak 
she bade her father stoop down and give her a parting 
kiss, as she was passing away to the home above. 



W 



54 



Benjamin Beddome. 



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Author of " Did Christ o'er Sinners weep. " 

fHE hymns of Rev. Benjamin Beddome have main- 
tained a prominent position in church psalmody for 
nearly a century. He was the son of a Baptist min- 
ister, born in 1717, and brought to Christ in 1737. 

He early heeded the Bible injunction to "acknowledge 
the Lord in all thy ways," and so he had the sweet ex- 
perience of finding out in after years that the Lord "shall 
direct thy paths," and "give thee the desires of thine 
heart." This is very evident from some lines which he 
penned in his early Christian life, .entitled, "The Wish," 
commencing, 

"Lord, in my soul implant thy fear- 
Let faith, and hope, anddove be there. 
Preserve me from prevailing vice 
When Satan tempts or lusts entice." 

Seven years afterward he was married to a help-meet, 

that was truly from the Lord, as an answer to this part 

of his prayer: — 

*' Let the companion of my youth 
Be one of innocence aud truth : 
Let modest charms adorn her face; 
And give her thy superior grace : 
By heavenly art first make her thine, 
Then make her willing to be mine. 

Such an one he found when a pastor, in the daughter of 
one of his deacons, with whom he was happily wedded 
for thirty four years of his life. In contemplating the 
ministry, he further expressed his heart's wish about set- 
tlement : — 

" My dwelling place let Bourton be 
And let me live, and live to thee." 

And so it proved to be, and here he also fully realized 

" Of friendship 's sweet may I partake, 
Nor be forsaken, or forsake. 
Let moderate plenty crown my board, 
And God for all be still adored. 




I 



Beddome continued. 



55 




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At Bourton the people became so attached to him and 
he to them, that he spent his entire ministerial life, of 
fifty-two years among them. At one time a church in 
London was so bent on endeavoring to get him to become 
their pastor that they sent "call after call," and when 
this failed, delegated one of their number to press the 
suit. While on this visit, a poor man discovered his 
mission and having the visitor's horse in charge, became 
so excited that when he brought the horse to Mr. Bed- 
dome's door, he exclaimed in the presence of the Londoner, 
" Robbers of churches are the worst of robbers," and at 
once he set the horse free to take his own course. 

Beddome sent, as his final answer, "I would rather 
honor God in a station, even much inferior to that in 
which he has placed me, than intrude myself into a higher 
without his direction." 

His earnest ministry won many trophies for his Master, 
and so anxious was he to die with his harness on that 
when unable through age anchinfirmites to walk, his at- 
tached people carried him to church, and listened to his 
sermons while he preached sitting. Even one hour be- 
fore his death his busy pen was still at work composing 
a hymn, when he was suddenly caught up to the skies in 
the seventy-ninth year of his age. His departure took 
place, September 3, 1795. A volume of his hymns was 
issued in 1818. Of his many hymns that are still in 
frequent use and much beloved, we may mention the 
following, commencing, 

" Come, Holy Spirit, come." . 

" And must I part with all I have," 

" Jesus, my Lord, my chief delight," 

"If Christ is mine, then all is mine," 

" Did Christ o'er sinners weep ? " 

"Witness, ye men and angels ! now," 

" Let party names no more." 




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56 



St. Bernard. 




r 



A Hymn Seven Hundred Years Old. 

BERNARD, the celebrated Abbot of Clair Vaux, 
{g> wrote a Latin hymn to "the sweet memory of Jesus," 
which has been, and still is highly prized by those 
who love that precious name. Translated by E. Cas- 
well the first verse reads, — 

"Jesus, the very thought of Thee, 
With sweetness fills my breast ; 
But sweeter far Thy face to see, 
And in Thy glory rest. " 

He was born in Burgundy, A. D. 1091, and was 
consecrated to God from the first, by Aletta, his devot- 
edly pious mother, who could say with Hannah, " for 
this child I prayed." Her death chamber was his 
spiritual birth-place. She died responding to a chant. 

He was selected with twelve others to build a mon- 
astery, which they accomplished in a " pathless forest 
haunted with robbers." There they toiled with songs 
of praise till at length it became Clair Vaux "the bright 
valley." 

By his learning, eloquence, and piety, he obtained 
great influence. Kings and Popes consulted him, and 
were subject to him. Peter the Venerable said he "had 
rather pass his life with Bernard than enjoy all the king- 
doms of the world. " Luther held him in high esteem, 
and said he was " the best monk that ever lived." 

Among his other sacred lyrics that are still held in 
high estimation, we may mention, — 

"Hail, thou Head! so bruised and wounded " 

The missionary Schwartz found great comfort in his 
dying hours by hearing the native Christians in India 
singing this hymn in their own Tamil language. After 
he had died, as was supposed, he was roused to life again 




Bernard continued. 



57 



by this favorite hymn, and his resuscitation was made 
known to them by his joining with them in the song. 

Bernard died in 1153, being sixty-two years of age. 

Like Andrew, he at "first findeth his own brother" 
and "brought him to Jesus." His father as well as 
his five brothers were among his first followers that he 
led in the narrow way. 

Of his brother Gerard's death, he touchingly savs, 
" Who could ever have loved me as he did ? He was 

a brother by blood, but far more by religion 

God grant, Girard, I may not have lost thee, but that 
thou hast preceded me; for of a surety thou hast joined 
those whom in thy last night below thou didst invite to 
praise God; when suddenly to the great surprise of all, 
thou, with a serene countenance and a cheerful voice, 
didst commence chanting, ' Praise ye the Lord, from the 
heaven; praise Him, all ye angels " 

Bernard lias been designated the honeyed teacher, and 
his writings a stream from Paradise. His heart seemed 
to overflow with love to Christ, of which in the first 
mentioned hymn, he says, — 

" Ah ! this 

Nor tongue nor pen can show : 
The love of Jesus what it is, 

None but his loved ones know." 

The thoughts expressed by Bernard in this verse, were 
also forcibly brought out in a striking figure by one 
partially insane at Cirencester, in 1779. 

•' Could we With ink the ocean fill, 

Were the whole earth of parchment made, 
"Were every single stick a quill, 

Were every man a scribe by trade ; 
To write the love of God alone, 

Would drain the ocean dry ; 
Nor would the scroll contain the whole, 

Though stretched from sky to sky. " 




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58 



John Ber ridge and his hymns. 




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Author of "0 happy saints, who dwell in light." 

ROMINENT among the workers that brought about 
the great revival of the eighteenth century was the 
Rev. John Berridge. He is described as " the salt 
of the church of England, and an instrument in God's 
hand of working revivals of religion within her pale, 
worthy of record with those that his compeers, White- 
field and Weslev, wrought without her." 

At nineteen he entered college at Cambridge, and be- 
came quite celebrated for his attainments, wit and humor. 
Though awakened in early life to a sense of his sinfulness, 
he entered the work of the ministry, without knowing 
the way of salvation. 

As six years passed around in his first charge at Staple- 
ford, England, without any souls being brought to Christ, 
he says, "God would have shown me, that /was wrong 
by not owning my ministry, but I paid no regard to this 
for a long time, imputing my want of success to the 
naughty hearts of my hearers, and not to my own naughty 
doctrine; that we are to be justified partly by our faith 
and partly by our works." 

In 1755 he removed to Everton, where there was a 
similar want of success. Until, as he says, " I began to 
be discouraged and now some secret misgivings arose in 
my mind that I was not right myself. Those misgivings 
grew stronger, and at last very painful. Being then un- 
der great doubts, I cried unto the Lord very earnestly. 
The constant language of my heart w r as this: 'Lord, if 
I am right, keep me so; if I am not right, make me so. 
Lead me to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.' 
After about ten days' crying unto the Lord, he was 
pleased to return an answer to my prayers, and in the 
following wonderful manner. As I was sitting in my 
house one morning, and musing upon a text of Scripture 




1 




i,\A • 



JOHX BERRIDGE. 



Berridge continued. 



61 



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these words were darted into my mind with wonderful 
power, and seemed indeed like a voice from heaven, 
" Cease from thy works. " Before I heard these words 
my mind was in a very unusual calm; but as soon as I 
heard them my soul was in a tempest directly , and the 
lears flowed from my eyes, like a torrent. The scales 
fell from my eyes immediately, and I now saw the rock 
I had been splitting on for nearly thirty years. Do you 
ask what this rock was? Some secret reliance on my 
own works for salvation. " 

After his conversion, he says in relation to his preach- 
ing, " I dealt with my hearers in a very different man- 
ner from what I used to. " The effect was manifest at 
once. Soon one with a broken heart called upon him. 

" Why, what is the matter, Sarah?" he asked. 

"Matter! I dont know what's the matter. Those new 
sermons. I find we are all to be lost now. I can 
neither eat, drink, nor sleep. I don't know what's to 
become of me." 

The same week came two or three more on a like 
errand. This sank him into the dust of self-abasement, 
to see what a blind leader of the blind he had been before. 
Immediately he burnt all his old sermons, and with tears 
of joy witnessed their destruction. The secret of his 
previous failures he expresses on thiswise: — 

" No wonder sinners weary grow 
Of praying to an unknown God, 
Such heartless prayer is all dumb show, 
And makes them listless, yawn, and nod." 

His warm heart now overflowed with emotion for 
perishing sinners. The church was awakened from its 
long sleep; some of his parishioners became angry; some 
opened their eyes with astonishment; while one and 
another began to come secretly, and revealing a broken 



heart, would tell him their lost condition. 



§/ 



62 



Berridge continued. 



His church 



"The windows being filled 



c 



Soon others came with the same story. 
became crowded. It is said : 

within and without, and even the outside of the 
pulpit to the very top, so that Mr. Berridge seemed 
almost stifled." Within a year as many as a thousand 
persons visited him, inquiring the way of life. 

He now began to visit and stir up the neighboring 
towns and villages. Being threatened with imprisonment, 
if he kept on preaching out of his parish, he replied 
that he would rather go to jail "with a good conscience, 
than be at liberty without one; adding there is one canon, 
my lord, which I dare not disobey, and that says, 'Go, 
preach my gospel to every creature." 

As churches could not always contain the great multi- 
tudes that flocked to hear him, he would resort to the 
open fields, as did his eloquent co-laborers, Whitefield 
and Wesley. The effect that often followed his preach- 
ing is described as truly remarkable. 

He had a tall and commanding figure, deep voice, 
a bold and impressive manner of speech, and a vivid 
fancy, that would often play around his utterances, as 
lightning about a cloud. Ten to fifteen thousand persons 
would often hang with breathless attention upon his 
weighty words as he portrayed the interests of time and 
eternity. His eccentricity no doubt helped to swell the 
number of his hearers. It is said that sometimes the 
carl of his lips and "the very point of his peaked nose" 
would seem to add to the effectiveness of his spicy sayings. 
But his quaint speech was always used as the diamond 
point on the arrow of truth, that helped to make it pierce 
far into the citadel of the heart. The slain of the Lord 
would be many after his use of the sword of the Spirit. 
Strong men would sink to the earth in great agony, and 
in a single year of "campaigning" as many as four 
thousand would thus become "pricked in heart." 




Bcrridge's hymns. 



63 



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An amusing story is told of Berridge while on a visit 
in the North of England. Stopping at a village where 
he must needs stay over the Sabbath, he requested the 
proprietor of the inn to let the " parson of the parish " 
know that there w r as a clergyman stopping with him who 
would gladly assist at the service on the morrow. 

In reply to this statement the cautious shepherd re- 
marked to the landlord, " We must be careful, for you 
know there are many of those wandering Methodist 
preachers about. What sort of man is he?" "Oh, it 
is all right sir," was the answer, "-just see his nose, sir, 
that will tell you he is no Methodist." "Well, ask him 
to call on me in the morning," said the rector, "and I 
shall judge for myself." At the morning call it is said, 
"the waspish and somewhat rubecund nose" disarmed 
prejudices and opened the way to the pulpit, where he 
delivered a memorable discourse. 

" And fools, who came to scoT, remained to pray." 

In 1785 he issued his "Sion's Songs, or Hymns com- 
posed for the use of them that love and follow the Lord 
Jesus Christ in sincerity," of which he says in the preface; 
"Many years ago, these hymns were composed in a six 
months' illness, and have since lain neglected by me, 
often threatened with fire, but have escaped that martyr- 
dom." Of the singing in his day, he says, " It has become 
a vulgar business in our churches. This tax of praise is 
collected, chiefly from an organ, or a clerk, or some bawl- 
ing voice in a singing loft. The congregation may listen 
if they please, or talk in whispers, or take a quiet nap." 

His hymns number three hundred and forty-two. 
We give five of the six verses of the one on "pleasures 
for evermore." This is thought to be his best, and is 
found in nearly all the church hymn-books of the 
present day : -. — 



w 



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64 



Berridge's hymns continued. 




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"0 happy saints, who dwell in light 
Amd walk with Jesus clothed in white, 
Safe landed on that peaceful shore 
"Where pilgrims meet to part no more. 

"■Released from sin and toil and grief, 
Death was their gate to endless life : 
An opened cage to let them fly 
And build their happy nests on high. 

"And now they range the heavenly plains, 
And sing their hymns in melting strains; 
And now their souls begin to prove 
The heights and depths of Jesus ' love." 

"He cheers them with etw-nal smile j 
They sing hosannas all tne while ; 
Or, overwhelmed with rapture sweet, 
Sink down adoring at his feet. 

"Ah, Lord ! with tardy steps I creep, 
And sometimes sing and sometimes weep ; 
Yet strip me of this house of clay, 
And I will sing as loud as they." 

As a specimen of some quaint verses that spice his 
collection, we give the following: — 

" But when thy simple sheep 
For form and shadows fight, 
I sit me down and weep 
To see their shallow wit, 
Who leave their bread to gnaw the stones, 
And fondly break their teeth with bones. 

Hymn number seven commences thus : — 

u With solemn weekly state 

The 'worldling treads thy court 
Content to see thy gate, 

And such as thert resort, 
But, ah, what is the house to, me, 
Unless the master I can see. 

Another contrasts the law and grace on this wise: — 

"Ran, John r and work, the law commands, 
Yet finds me neither feet nor hands; 
But sweeter news the gospel brings. 
It bids me fly, and lends me wings. 




1/ 



Berridge 1 s hymn continued. 



65 



•4^' 



Although Berridge was never married, lie has furnished 
a good marriage hymn, that is about the only one on 
that subject in most hymn-books. It commences, 

"Since Jesus freely did appear 

To grace a marriage feast, 
Dear Lord, we ask thy presence here, 
To make a wedding guest. " 

His purse was as open as his heart, so that during his 
lifetime he gave away a fortune and all his patrimony. 

For four and twenty years he preached on an average 
ten or twelve sermons a week, and travelled a hundred 
miles. In a characteristic epitaph he thus epitomizes the 
events of his life. This, in accordance with his wish, was 
placed on his tomb-stone after death, with the date 
of the last line added: — 

"Here lie the earthly remains of John Berridge, late 
Vicar of Everton, and an itinerant servant of Jesus 
Christ, who loved his Master and his work, and after 
running his errands many years, was called up to wait 
on him above. 

" Reader, art thou born again ? 

"No salvation without a new birth. 

"I was born in sin, February, 1716. 

"Remained ignorant of my fallen state till 1730. 

"Lived proudly on faith and works for salvation till 
1751. 

"Admitted to Everton vicarage, 1755. 

"Fled to Jesus alone for refuge, 1756. 

"Fell asleep in Christ Jesus, January 22, 1793. " 

He was in his seventy-sixth year when the summons 
of death suddenlv arrived. A clerarvman remarked, 
"Jesus will soon call you up higher." He replied, "Ay, 
ay, ay, higher, higher, higher." Once he exclaimed, 
"Yes, and my childien, too, will shout and sing, ' Here 
comes our father ! ' " 



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66 



Horatius Bonar. 



Bonar and his Hymns. 

HEN the feet of the psalmist were taken "out of an 
horrible pit and the miry clay," he says that there 
was also "put a new song in my mouth, even praise 
to our God." After the escape from Egyptian bondage, 
and from the waters of the Red Sea, what was more nat- 
ural to God's Israel than the spontaneous outburst of 
praise upon the banks of deliverance. 

How often the redeemed soul, while surveying the 
great salvation, has found the language of Bonar's three 
well-known hymns exactly suited to tell the story. 
While sweetly led through "green pastures" how easy 
to sing along the banks of "the still waters'' the hymn 
commencing, 

" I was a wandering sheep, 
I did not love the fold ; 
I did not love my Shepherd's voice, 
I would not be controlled.'' 

Or when nestled near the loving heart of Jesus, to recount 
his wondrous love in the hymn : — ■ 

"I heard the voice of Jesus say, — 
1 Come unto me and rest; 
Lay down, thou weary one ! lay down 
Thy head upon my breast.' 

"I came to Jesus as I was, 
Weary, and worn, and sad ; 
I found in him a resting-place 
And he has made me glad." 

Even the smallest babe in Christ can tell the plan of 
redemption in the simple verse that makes up the hymn 
commencing, 

" I lay my sins on Jesus, 

The spotless Lamb of God." 

Our readers will surely need no invitation to gaze 
upon the pleasant features of Bonar's likeness that ac- 




C 




HORATIUS BONAR. 



Bonars hymn continued. 



69 



company these remarks, and see in them that goodness 
of heart that is indelibly stamped upon all that he has 
written. 

The Rev. Horatius Bonar D. D. was born in Edin- 
burgh Scotland in 1808. He was set apart to the work 
of the ministry at Kelso, in 1837, and has continued his 
pastoral work at Edinburgh, since 1867. In 1843 he 
united with the Free Church of Scotland. 

His pen has been not only busy and fruitful, but far- 
reaching in its influence. 

His "Night of Weeping; or Words for the Suffering 
Family of God," reached its forty-fifth thousand already 
in 1853. A sequel, "The Morning of Joy," was issued 
in 1850. His precious work called "The Blood of 
Christ," has also gained a world-wide reputation. His 
hymns and poems issued in 1857, entitled "Hymns of 
Faith and Hope," reached an eighth edition in 1862, and 
were followed by a second series in 1861, and a third in 
1866. A second series was published in 1861. 

His earnest life has been in keeping with the heart- 
wish so well expressed in his lines entitled, "Use Me:"— 

"Make use of me my God! 
Let me not be forgot; 
A broken vessel cast aside, 
One whom thou needest not. 

"I am thy creature Lord; 

And made by hands divine; 

And I am part, however mean, 

Of this great world of thine. 

"Thou usest all thy works, 

The weakest things that be; 
Each has a service of its own 
For all things wait on thee. 




"Thou usest the high stars, 
The tiny drops of dew, 
The giant peak and little hill; — 
My God, Oh use me too." 



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72 



Bonars hymn. 




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"I was a Wandering Sheep/' 

fURING a revival in a female seminary in Massa- 
chusetts, many of the pupils had shown the natural 
" enmity" of the "carnal mind'' to spiritual things. 

Helen B was among those who noticed the Spirit's 

work only by a curling lip and a scornful laugh. 

It seemed in vain to talk with her, or seek to induce 
her to attend a prayer meeting. Christians could do 
nothing more than to pray for her. 

One evening, however, as a praying band had gather- 
ed, the door opened, and Helen B entered. Her eyes 

were downcast, and her face was calm and very pale. 
There was something in her look which told of an inward 
struggle. She took her seat silently, and the exercises of 
the meeting proceeded. A few lines were sung, two or 
three prayers offered, and then as was their custom, each 
repeated a few verses of some favorite hymn. One follow- 
ed another in succession, until it came to the turn 
of the new-comer. There was a pause, and a perfect 
silence, and then, without lifting her eyes from the floor, 
she commenced, 

"I was a wandering sheep, 
I did not love the fold. " 

Her voice was low, but distinct, and every word, as 
she uttered it, thrilled the hearts of the listeners. She re- 
peated one stanza after another of that beautiful hymn of 
Bonar, and not an eye save her own was dry, as, with 
sweet emphasis, she pronounced the last lines : 

"No more a wayward child, 
1 seek no more to roan? ; 
I love my heavenly Father's voice — 
I love, I love his home." 

That single hymn told all. The wandering sheep, the 
proud and wayward child had returned. 



1 



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Bonar's hymn — / lay my sins on Jesus. 



73 



*$t' 



Comfort Sung to a Weary Teacher. 

N infant school teacher thus describes her experience : 
U I was not very well, and all my nerves seemed 
to be in a quiver. It was washing-day, with extra cares 
and labors. There was company in the house which 
must be entertained. There was fruit to be attended to — 
a duty that cannot be put off a single day. In fact there 
seemed to be everything to do, and the most of it must 
be done by my own tired hands. My head ached, too. 

" I went into the garden for a breath of fresh air, and 
behold, the long rains had brought out the weeds in un- 
precedented luxuriance. It would never do to leave 
those weeds. I went to work with a will — with more 
will than strength, indeed — and worked till I was utterly 
exhausted. Then I went into the house to resume my 
labors there, but I was weary and worn, and the com- 
plaining thought uppermost in my mind was, ' Must it 
be so always? Can I never, anywhere, find rest?' 

" As if in answer to my question, a little voice, clear 
and sweet, came from under the clustering vines in the 
next yard. It was the voice of one of my own little 
scholars, and she was singing to herself, one line of a 
favorite song she had learned in my class: — 

»' I lay my head on Jesus — I lay my head on Jesus. ' 
She repeated it over and over again. But it was enough. 

" When they were learning that song, I had told them 
they should go to Jesus whenever they were tired or sick 
or sorry, and they should lean their heads on him, and 
there they would find rest and peace. 

" It all came back to me. I tried then and there, 
weary and depressed as I was, to "lean my head on 
Jesus." I seemed to feel on my hot forehead the touch 
of his own hand in benediction, and the promised rest 
entered into my spirit." 




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74 



Origin of 3Irs. P. II. Brown's hymn. 





The Leafy Closet of Prayer. 



mountain stream, mm 

fvoov nnn n u prs t- vV ■■■/ sw\ 



% 



LONG a 

skirted with trees and alders, ^ g 
near the village of Ellington, 
Connecticut, there was a well 
trodden foot path, that led from 
a cottage to a place of prayer. 

At the close of the day, a mother was wont to leave 
the cares of her family, and, in the quiet of this secluded 
spot, to hold sweet communion with God. 

One summer evening she was criticised by a neighbor 
for the seeming neglect of her family, and for this habit 
of stealing thus "a while away." 

When she returned home her heart was much pained 
at what had been said. So she at once took her pen and 
wrote an answer to the criticism. She headed it, "An 
apology for my twilight rambles addressed to a Lady." 

This mother was Mrs. Phoebe H. Brown. 

In 1824 she gave Dr. Nettleton permission to issue it 
in his " Village Hymns." The first verses of the orig- 
inal hymn commenced thus: — 

"Yes, when the toilsome day is gone, 
And night with banners gray 
Steals silently the glade along, 
In twilight's soft array — 

"I love to steal awhile away 
.. From little ones and care, 
And spend the hours of setting day 
In gratitude and prayer. " 




PHCEBE H. BROWN. 



3Irs. Brown's hymn continued. 



77 



One of the "little ones" for whom she was thus accus- 
tomed to pray is now the Rev Samuel R. Brown. D. D. 
who has been a most efficient missionary in Japan since 
1859. What an example to praying mothers, and what 
an apt illustration of God's promises showing that those 
who resort to "the secret place of the most high shall 
abide under the shadow of the Almighty" — that when 
we pray to him in secret he shall reward us openly. 

When it is known how true the language of this hymn 
was, as the heart utterance of its author , and how truth- 
fully it expresses the inward emotion of every prayerful 
soul, it is no wonder that it finds a place in nearly all 
the standard hymn-books of Christendom. 

As long as Christians are like their Master, of whom 
it is said: " Rising up a great while before day he went 
out, and departed into a solitary place and prayed," they 
will also love to sing : — 

" I love to steal awhile away 

From every cumbering care, 
And spend the hours of setting day 
In humble, grateful prayer. 

11 1 love in solitude to shed 

The penitential tear, 
And all his promises to plead, 
Where none but God can hear. 

<c I love to think on mercies past, 
And future good implore, 
And all my cares and sorrows cast 
On Him whom I adore. 

"I love by faith to take a view 
Of brighter scenes in heaven ; 
The prospect doth my strength renc"^", 
While here by tempest driven. 

"Thus when life's toilsome day is o'er, 
May its departing raj- 
Be calm as this impressive hour 
And lead to endless day " 



78 



Phoebe H. Brown. 



The tune called "Monson" was composed for this 
hymn by her son, the Rev. Dr. Brown, who is "a lover 
of song and an admirable singer." William B. Brad- 
bury also wrote a tune expressly for this hymn, and 
named it "Brown," as a compliment to its gifted author- 
ess." One of the omitted verses of her hymn reads; — 

11 1 love to meditate on death, 

When will its summons come, 
With gentle power to steal my breath. 
And waft an exile home ? " 

We are indebted to Rev. Charles Hammond for the 
following particulars. He is in possession of her auto- 
biography, a manuscript volume of four hundred and 
twelve pages quarto, and a volume of her poems, nearly 
as large, besides many unpublished papers of equal value. 

Mrs. Brown was the wife of Timothy H. Brown of 
Monson, Mass. She was born at Canaan, N. Y., May 
1st, 1783. Her father, George Hinsdale, having died 
suddenly of small-pox when she was but ten months old, 
she was placed in the care of her grandmother. 

In her autobiography written in her old age, Mrs 
Brown pays a tribute to the deathless impressions of her 
grandmother's instructions, in which she says, "the bright 
and sunny period of my first nine years has never been 
forgotten, nor can be undervalued while memory and 
reason retain their empire. " Being placed in other hands 
from the age of nine until eighteen her life was one 
of bondage, hardly less severe and hopeless than that of 
slavery itself. She lived in poverty, never went to school 
a day, and for years did not get to church, and was com- 
pelled through all the plastic period of youth to spend 
her time in unrequited toil, and in the most menial 
service. At the age of eighteen she 'left the abode of her 
sorrows and managed to go to school, where, with little 
children, she learned to write for the first time, and to 




r 

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Origin of u Lord! thy work revive" 



79 



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sew, and some of the primary studies in a common-school 
education. 

Returning to Canaan, the residence of her childhood, 
she was most kindly cared for by the Whiting family, 
and with them shared in the results of a revival, which, 
near the beginning of the century, visited that region. 
No sooner had she learned to write with the pen mechan- 
ically, than she began to write as the composer of verses, 
and essays in prose. Her pen was never laid aside until 
extreme age and disease prevented its further use. 

Next to her "twilight hymn" in popularity was the 
one of which she left the following record : " Prayer for 
a Revival." This hymn was written from the impulse 
of a full heart, incidentally shown to a friend, that friend 
begged a copy for his own private use, but it soon found 
its way to the public in "The Spiritual Songs." The 
hymn is familiar to all commencing : — ■ 

" Lord ! thy work revive 
la Zion's gloomy hour, 
And let our dying graces live 
By thy restoring power." 

We need not wonder that to nfull heart, overflowing 
in such earnest cries, a speedy answer should be witnessed. 
For this verily followed the same year in the neigh- 
borhood from which her earnest petition ascended to 
the skies. 

The children growing up under the influence of so 
many prayers, did not disappoint a mother's wishes for 
positions of usefulness. The eldest daughter, Julia, was 
married to the Rev. Daniel Lord; the second to the 
Rev. Joseph Winn; the remaining daughter, Hannah, 
first to Mr. Lord of Connecticut, and after his death to 
Deacon Elijah Smith, now of Illinois. All her children 
are numbered with the departed, except the son in Japan. 

Not only at the close, but also at the dawn of day did 




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80 



Mrs. Brown continued. 




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she love to " steal a while away." Even when bending 
under the weight of old age, she wrote to a friend, saying, 
" I have risen before the light, that I may have a quiet 
hour for communion with my God and Saviour." In 
1819, she wrote the following Morning Hymn for a sun- 
rise prayer meeting, held in Monson, during a season of 
revival : — 

" How sweet the melting lay, 
Which breaks upon the ear, 
When at the hour of rising day, 
Christians unite in prayer, 
" The breezes waft their cries 
Up to Jehovah's throne, 
He listens to their heaving sighs 
And sends his blessings down. 

" So Jesus rose to pray 

Before the morning light, 
Once on the chilling mount did stay 
To wrestle all the night. 
"Glory to God on high, 

Who sends his Spirit down 
To rescue souls condemned to die, 
And make his people one." 

By special request, she added a Mid-day Hymn, for the 
Fulton street prayer meeting, where it is often sung. 
It commences, 

''Jesus this mid-day hour 
We consecrate to Thee; 
Forgetful of each earthly care, 
We would Thy glorj- see. " 

Some writers mention Monson, as the place where she 
wrote her twilight hymn. This is a mistake. On the 
original manuscript, in the hands of Mr. Hammond, she 
says; " Written at Ellington, Connecticut, in reply to a 
censure for Twilight Rambles, August 1818. " Near the 
close of her pilgrimage, she penned these lines: "As to 
my history, it is soon told; a sinner saved by grace and 
sanctified by trials." 



W 



Mrs. Brown's hymn illustrated. 



81 



Stealing Away to Jesus. 

% brief circular, announcing the preaching of my II- 
~z Iustrated Ser.nons, attracted the attention of little 
^ Minnie whose parents would not permit her to go 
to any church or Sunday school, as they did not believe 
in Christ. Through her pleadings permission wus given 
her to attend our services in the " Union Tabernacle " at 
Broad St. and Girard Ave., Philadelphia. 

Minnie made herself a little book in which to put down 
every wrong word and action during the day. Said she 
to her mother, " It seems as if my little page gets so full 
every day, that it makes me feel very bad. I am so naugh- 
ty. It seems every thing I do, is sinful." 

Our meetings continued six weeks. Daily would Min- 
nie come, long before the time of service, and putting 
her hand in mine Avould look up so imploringly, asking 
the way to Jesus. 

We gave her a little hymn book, which, with her lit- 
tle Bible, she kept in a little garret store-room, where she 
would go after service, saying, that she wished to be left 
alone. Her mother supposed it was in order to play, or 
read some favorite book, and never interrupted her; but 
after her death, her Bible and hymn-book were found 
lying there, having been evidently much read. Thus it 
became evident that this little disciple had been stealing 
away to this garret, to enjoy quiet and sweet communion 
with her Saviour. 

Two verses in Isaiah, she had emphasized, and then re- 
ferred to them especially on the fly leif of her Bible as 
expressive of her experience, " Behold, God is my Salva- 
tion : I will trust and not be afraid ; for the Lord Jeho- 
vah is my strength and song ; he also is become my 
salvation ; Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of 
the wells of salvation. " 



82 Prayer " in the solitude so drear" rewarded. 




A Mother Recognized by a Hymn. 

AE was raging in Canada in 
1754 between the French and 
English. The Indians took part 
with the French and came as far 
as Pennsylvania, where they 
burned the houses, and murder- 
ed the people. 

In 1 7 55 they reached the dwel- 
ling of a poor Christian family. 
The father .and son were in- 
stantly killed. A little daughter, 
Eegina, was taken, with many 
other children, into captivity. 

They were led many miles through woods and thorny 
bushes, that nobody could follow them. 

Eegina and a little girl two years old were given to an 
old Indian widow. The poor children were forced to go 
into the forest to gather roots and other provisions for 
the old woman; and when they would not bring her 
enough, she would beat them in so cruel a manner that 
they were nearly killed. 

Eegina continually repeated the verses from the Bi- 
ble, as well as the hymns which she had learned at home, 
and taught them to the little girl. And often would they 
retire to a tree and kneel down, when Eegina would pray, 
and teach her little- companion the way to Jesus. 
Often they cheered each other by the hymn, 

" Alone, yet not alone am I, 

Though in the solitude so drear." 

In this sad state they remained nine long years, till 
Eegina reached the age of nineteen, and her little com- 
panion eleven years. 




i) 



Incident of If is. John Hartman and daughter, 83 



r 



In 1764 the providence of God brought the English 
Colonel Boquet to the place where they were in captivity. 
He conquered the Indians and forced them to ask for 
peace. The first condition he made was that they should 
restore all the prisoners they had taken. 

Thus the two girls were released. More than four hun- 
dred captives were brought to Col. Boquet. 

It was an affecting sight. The soldiers gave them food 
and clothing, took them to Carlisle, and published in the 
newspapers that all parents who had lost their children 
might come and get them. 

Regina's mother came; but, alas ! her child had be- 
come a stranger to her. Regina had acquired the appear- 
ance and manners of the natives, and by no means could 
the mother discover her daughter. Seeing her weep in 
bitter disappointment, the colonel asked her if she could 
recollect nothing by which her poor girl might be known. 
She at length thought of, and began to sing, the hymn, 

11 Alone, yet not alone am T, 

Though in this wilderness so drear ; 

I feel my Saviour always nigh, — 
He comes the weary hours to cheer. 

I am with him, and he with me ; 
Even here alone I cannot b.e. " 

Scarcely had the mother sung two lines of it when Re- 
gina rushed from the crowd, began to sing it also, and 
threw herself into her mother's arms. They both wept for 
joy; and with her young companion, whose friends had 
not sought her, she went to her mother's house. Happi- 
ly for herself, though Regina had not seen a book for 
nine vears, she at once remembered how to read the 
Bible." 

This narrative was recorded by Pastor Rone of Elsi-. 
nore. 



84 



Phcebe Cary and her hymns. 




Author of ' One sweetly solemn thought. " 

§HTS hymn, so precious to those whose affection is set 
on things above, was penned by Miss Phoebe Cary. 
She was born in the Miami Valley, Ohio, September 
4, 1824. Early in life she and her sister Alice became 
so busy with their poetic pens, that by the year 1849 
they had a volume ready for the press of which Phcebe 
made the following record : " Alice and I have been col- 
lecting and revising all our published poems to send to 
New York for publication. We are to receive for them 
one hundred dollars. " After the issue of this volume 
they were tempted to visit their unknown friends in the 
East, who had written kind words of approbation. 

Mr Whittier commemorates their visit by a poem pub- 
lished after the death of Alice, which commences thus: — 

" Years since ( but names to me before, ) 
Two sisters sought at eve my door ; 
Two song-birds wandering from their nest 
A gray old farm bouse in the West." 

Speaking of the welcome he gave, he says : — 

" What could I other than I did ? 
Could I a singing bird forbid? 
Deny the wind-stirred leaf? Rebuke 
The music of the forest brook?" 

The wind that stirred their forest nest was some unpro- 
pitious gales that made home uncomfortable after the 
death of a mother, and unsuited to that intellectual ad- 
vancement they so much coveted. So with much courage 
and but little money, the sisters bade adieu to the home 
of their childhood, and sought to make to themselves one 
in the city of New York. Having rented two or three 
rooms in an unfashionable neighborhood they began to 
do with their might, whatsoever their hands could do 
with the pen, to make a living. Success attended their 
efforts till they were enabled to purchase a home on 



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Phoebe Carifs hymn continued. 



87 



Twentieth street, from which they ascended in after years 
to their home above. 

The two sisters were united by the warmest affection. 
Phcebe said, " It seems to me that a cord stretches from 
Alice's heait to mine." When this cord was severed by 
the rude hand of death it left a bleeding wound which 
time could not heal. A shadow seemed to linger upon 
th'e-hearthstone after the loved form of Alice was removed 
to the Greenwood cemetery that became the shadow of 
death to the surviving sister. How keenly she felt the 
departure of Alice can be judged from the last sweet 
hymn she penned, in which she says; — 

" mine eyes be not so tearful ; 
Drooping spirit, rise, be cheerful ; 
Heavy soul why art tliou fearful? 

''Nature's sepulchre is breaking, 
And the earth, her gloom forsaking, 
Into life and light is waking! 

"0 the weakness and the madness 
Of the heart that holdeth sadness 
When all else is light and gladness! 

u Though thy treasure death hath, taken, 
They that sleep are not forsaken, 
They shall hear the trump and waken. 

"Shall not he who life supplieth 
To the dead seed where it lieth 
Quicken also man who dieth ? 

"Yea the power of death was ended 
When He who to hell descended, 
Rose, and up to heaven ascended. 

" Rise, my soul, then, from dejection, 
See in nature the reflection 
Of the dear Lord 's resurrection. 

"Let his promise leave thee never: 
1 If the night of death T sever 
Ye shall also live forever.' " 

During the heat of the summer of 1871 she went to 
Newport hoping to revive her sinking frame but suddenly 




c: 



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88 



Phoebe Cary continued. 




and unexpectedly the summons came that called her to 
that home of which she wrote in her popular hymn : — 

"One sweetly solemn thought 
Comes to me o'er and o'er, 
I am nearer home to day 
Than 1 have been before." 

In the last year of her life she was much cheered by 
the incident, given on the opposite page. Writing to 
an aged friend, she says: "I enclose the hymn, and the 
story for you, not because I am vain of the notice, but 
because I thought you would feel a peculiar interest in 
them, when you know the hymn was written eighteen 
years ago, ( 1-852, ) in your house. I composed it in the 
little back third story bed-room, one Sunday morning, 
after coming from church; and it makes me happy to 
think that any word I could say, has done a little good 
in the world." After her death, Mr. Con well received 
a letter from the old man referred to, of whom, he savs, 
that he "has become a hard working Christian, while 
' Harry' has renounced gambling and all attendant vices, 
and thus the hymn has saved from ruin, at least two, 
who seldom or never entered a house of worship. " 

The thought of the following verse was exemplified in 
her death. Mary C. Ames, her biographer, says, " With- 
out an instant's warning, her death throe came. She 
knew it. Throwing up her arms in instinctive fright, 
this loving, believing, but timid soul, who had never 
stood alone in all her mortal life, as she felt herself 
diifting out into the unknown, the eternal, starting on 
the awful passage, from whence there is no return, cried, 
in a low, piercing voice: 'O God, have mercy on my 
sou)!' and died." 



u 0, if my mortal feet 

Have almost gained the brink ; 
If it be I am nearer home 

Even to-day than I think,'' etc. 




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Phoebe Cary's hymn. 



89 




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Gamblers Reclaimed by a Hymn. 

CHOES of hymns reverberate 
a long while. 

Col. Russel H. Conwell 
while on a visit to China, was 
an eye-witness to the following 
scene : — 

"Two Americans, one a 
young man, the other over for- 
ty, were drinking and playing 
at cards in a gambling house in 
China. While the older one 
was shuffling the cards, the 
younger began to hum, and finally sung in a low tone, 
but quite unconsciously, the hymn : — 

" ' One sweetly solemn thought 
Conies to me o'er and o'er, 
I am nearer home to-day 
Than I have been before.' 

The older one threw down the cards on the floor and said; 

Ui Harry, where did you learn that tune?' 

"< What tune?' 

" ' Why, that one you have been singing. ' 

" The young man said he did not know what he had 
been singing. But when the older one repeated some of 
the lines, he said they were learned in the Sunday School. 

" * Come, Harry, ' said the older one, i come, here's 
what I've won from you. As for me, as God sees me, 
I have played my last game, and drank my last bottle. 
I have misled you, Harry, and I am sorry for it. Give 
me your hand, my boy, and say that, for old America's 
sake, if no other, you will quit the infernal business. ' " 

Mr. Conwell says that both of the gamblers were per- 
manently reclaimed by the influence of this hymn. 




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90 



John Cennieh. 



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" Jesus, my all to Heaven is gone. " 

flllS sweet hymn is said to have been a description 
of the author's experience. It was written by John 
Cennick, who was born at Reading in 1717. 
" As a youth he delighted in attending dances, play- 
ing at cards, and going to the theatre." In 1735, while 
pacing the streets of London, he suddenly felt great con- 
victions of sin. At first he yielded to despair, was " weary 
of life, and often prayed for death. " 

He fled to and fro, seeking rest in infidelity and open 
sin. At length he tried to rid himself of sin by penance. 
Says he, " I even ate acorns, leaves of trees, crabs, and 
grass. " For three long years he groaned under the bur- 
dens of a guilty conscience. This thought he expresses in 
the verses : — 

" This is the way I long have sought, 
And mourned because I found it not ; 
My grief a burden long has been, 
Because I was not saved from sin. 

The more I strove against its power, 
I felt its weight and guilt the more ; 

Till late I heard my Saviour say, 
Come hither, soul, I am the way. " 

While reading Whitfield's journal light dawned upon 
his soul. 

In 1739 he commenced work for Christ, in teaching 
and preaching among the colliers at Kingswood. 

Eventually he went along with Wesley and Whitfield 
in their preaching tours. In 1745 he cast his lot with the 
Moravians. In 1755 he was taken ill of fever and died 
in London. 

He is the author of the well known hymn, 
" Children of the Heavenly King." 




CcnnicJSs hymn illustrated. 



91 



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"Now, I will tell to sinners 'round 
What a dear Saviour I have found. 



fEIXG much exhausted during the delivery of a course 
of " Illustrated Sermons " at Cleveland, Ohio, we 
proposed to meet any in a social gathering, on Sat- 
urday evening in the parlor of a friend. After spending 
the evening in general conversation, the group of young 
friends were about bidding each other " good night, " 
when a little orphan, about ten years of age, of her own 
accord, arose at the sofa and said : u Mr. Long, before we 
separate, I would like to say something. " Breathless 
silence following, she added : " I have been seeking Jesus 
all day at home in my closet, and I have found Him, and 
I want my playmates to seek and find Him too. Let 
us pray." As we sank in that parlor, many tears at- 
tested the effect of that little pleading voice that was 
leading us at a throne of grace, and of the interest awak- 
ened by the unexpected testimony of one so young, whose 
heart was so full that she could not go home without tel- 
ling " 'round what a dear Saviour" she "had found. " 

The next week she met a little ragged boy 6n the street, 
and was overheard saying to him, as she caught him by 
the hand, "Are you interested in Jesus?" "I guess I 
would be if I had anybody to tell me about Him. But 
IVe got no mother." "Neither have I," said the little 
Mary, " but come to Jesus and he will take care of you. " 

At the close of an " Illustrated Sermon" in the Luth- 
eran church at Ashland, Pa., on going down the aisle, 
I saw a little girl getting up on the bench, that she 
might speak to me. As I drew near she wished me to 
bend over my head, that she might whisper a precious 
secret. As I did so, she said softly : "IVe found Jesus. " 
It came so joyously and sweetly from her lips that it left 
an echo that shall never cease from my memory. 




1 



92 



William Cowper. 



Cowper and his Hymns. 

fILLIAM COWPER is a name that will linger 
upon the page of hymnology, as long as there are 
sinners upon the earth to sing of the "fountain filled 
with blood." lie was the son of the rector of Berk- 
hampstead England, the Rev. John Cowper. The poet 
was born November 1 5, 1 731 . One of the greatest misfor- 
tunes that ever befell him was the loss of an affectionate 
mother, when he was but six years of age. 

His father seemed ill adapted for the training of a 
child whose "shyness, nervousness and sensitiveness were 
greatly aggravated by feeble health, and weak eyes. 
We may infer his in judiciousness from the fact that 
when his boy was eleven, he made him read a treatise on 
suicide and give him his opinion upon it. n 

At 18 he began the study of law for which he did not 
seem to be naturally inclined, as he says he was "con- 
stantly employed from morning to night, in giggling 
and making giggle." A cousin having procured for him 
the "Clerkship of the Journals," he was notified to stand 
an examination at the bar of the House of Lords. The 
time appointed was to him such an approaching "'day 
of terror" that its prospect weighed so heavily upon 
his frail tenement that at length it unsettled his reason. 

The dark November night preceding he made several 
attempts to commit suicide, first by taking poison. 
Twenty times he put the black phial to his mouth. 
His courage failing him he next tried to drown himself, 
then with a knife tried to stab himself, and at last with 
a cord tried to hang himself at the top of his door. But 
the cord breaking and other means failing the half-dead 
man now began to turn his eyes away from the bar of 
the House of Lords, to the bar of the King of Kings. 

At length his brother found him in his terrible agony, 



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William Cowper 



William Cowper continued. 



95 




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his knees smiting together, and his quivering lips uttering 

the piercing cry, "Oh, brother, I am damned! Think 

of eternity, and then think what it must be to be damned." 

"While in this condition he penned those piteous lines : — 

li Man disavows and Deity disowns me 
Hell might afford my miseries a shelter; 
Therefore hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all 
, Bolted against me. " 

It is sad to think how one, who has since poured into 
so many broken hearts the balm of Gilead, should have 
had his own wrung with what he called "unutterable 
anguish," and yet this bitter experience may have taught 
him afterwards to say with more emphasis of that fountain 
the " thief rejoiced to see," 

" And there have I, as vile as he, 
Washed all my sins away. " 

The Rev. Martin Madan, a cousin whom he had 
hitherto avoided came to him in this time of need, and 
told him of Jesus. As they were seated on the bedside 
Cowper burst into a flood of tears, as a ray of hope flit 
across the dark horizon, but shortly afterwards actual 
brain disease came on that resulted in insanity, and poor 
Cowper was taken to St Alban's. 

Here it was that in less .than two years he was 
restored mentally and saved spiritually, and in a double 
sense was found "sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and 
in his right mind." In after years how exquisitely he 
described this experience in poetic form : — 

" I was a stricken deer that left the herd 
Long since : with many an arrow deep infixed 
My panting side was charged, when I withdrew 
To seek a tranquil death in distant shades. 
There was I found by One who had Himself 
Been hurt by archers. In his side He bore 
And in his hands and feet the cruel scars. 
With gentle force soliciting the darts, 
He drew them forth, and healed and bade me live." 



96 



William Coivper. 



r 



Cowper's Conversion and Hymns relating Thereto. 

OWPER'S hymns were types of his varied experi- 
ences. This was especially true of those referring 
to his new birth. 

July, 1764, after being an inmate of the Insane Asyl- 
um at St. Albans for six months, he seated himself near 
the window, and seeing a Bible, took it up, and as he 
opened it, his eyes lit on Romans in. 25. The scales 
fell at once from his eyes. Says he, — 

" Immediately I received strength to believe, and 
the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon 
me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement He had 
made, my pardon sealed in his blood, and all the full- 
ness and completeness of his justification. In a moment 
I believed and received the Gospel." 

These words he had doubtless said before, but only 
now he could say, "I saw;" thus illustrating the sen- 
timents of his exquisitely beautiful hymn beginning, — 




"The Spirit breathes upon the word, 
And brings the truth to sight." 

To this he refers, as he continues : — 

" Whatever my friend Madan had said to me so long 
before revived in all its clearness 'with demonstration 
of the Spirit and with power.' Unless the Almighty 
arm had been under me, I think I should have died of 
gratitude and joy. My eyes filled with tears and my 
voice choked with transport ; I could only look up to 
heaven in silence, overwhelmed with love and wonder. 

After this blissful experience, he composed his first 
hymn, which he entitled, "The happy change, " — 

"How blest thy creature is, God, 
When, with a single eye, 
He views the lustre of thy word, 
The day-spring from on high ! " 



Cowpcr's hymns continued. 



97 



" But the work of the Holy Spirit is best described 
in his own words ; it was 'joy unspeakable and full of 
glory. ' Thus was my heavenly Father in Christ Je- 
sus pleased to give me the full assurance of faith, and out 
of a stony, unbelieving heart to raise up a child unto 
Abraham. How glad I should have been to have spent 
every moment in prayer and thanksgiving ! I lost no 
opportunity of repairing to a throne of grace, but flew 
to it with an eagerness irresistible and never to be sat- 
isfied. Could I help it? Could I do otherwise than 
to love and rejoice in my reconciled Father in Jesus 
Christ? The Lord had enlarged my heart, and I ran in 
the ways of His commandments." 

This last thought he beautifully expressed in this — 

" My soul rejoices to pursue 
The steps of him I love, 
Till glory breaks upon my view 
In brighter worlds above. " 

" I should have been glad to have spent every mo- 
ment in prayer and thanksgiving! For many succeed- 
ing weeks tears were ready to flow if I did but speak 
of the Gospel, or mention the name of Jesus. To re- 
joice day and night was my employment. O, that the 
ardor of my first love had continued!" 

This thought he embodies in the well-known hymn, — 

11 Oh, for a closer walk with God. " 

In which he says in the second and third stanza, — 

"Where is the blessedness 1 knew 
When first I saw the Lord? 
Where is the soul-refreshing view 
Of Jesus and his word? 

"What peaceful hours I then enjoyed I 
How sweet their memory still ! 
But now I find an aching void 
The world ean never fill. " 



L 



=sD 



98 



Cowper's hymns continued. 



Origin of Cowper's Second Hymn. 

jf N" June 1765, Cowper, being restored to health, left 
^§p the asylum at St. Alban's. Of his tour to Hunting- 
don, he says, "It is impossible to tell with how de- 
lightful a sense of his protection and fatherly care of me, 
it pleased the Almighty to favor me during the whole of 
my journey." 

Feeling his loneliness in his new home, and his heart 
at the same time yearning for communion with his newly 
found Saviour, he, at eventide, wandered forth in 
the fields, where he found a closet among the green 
shrubbery and bushes. While in this "calm retreat," 
and "silent shade," the gate of heaven seemed opened to 
his view, and the Lord gave him a glorious manifestation 
of his presence. 

The next day being the Sabbath his feet turned to the 
sanctuary. This was the first time he met with God's 
people in their Sabbath home, since his conversion. 

The story of the Prodigal Son was the lesson of the 
day. Cowper's heart was so full that he found it difficult 
to restrain his emotions. Of one, devoutly engaged in 
worship in the same pew, he says: "While he was sing- 
ing the Psalms I looked at him; and observing him 
intent upon his holy employment, I could not help 
saying in my heart, with much emotion, *'The Lord bless 
you for praising Him, whom my soul loveth !' ; 

After the church services were over, he hastened at 
once to the secluded spot that had become so hallowed 
with the associations of the day before. "How," he 
exclaims, "shall I express what the Lord did for me, 
except by saying that he made all his goodness to pass 
befcre me? I seemed to speak to him face to face, as a 
man converseth with his friend, except that my speech 
was only in tears of joy, and groan ings which cannot be 




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Cowper 1 s second hymn. 



99 



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uttered. I could say indeed with Jacob, not how dread- 
ful, but how lovely is this place! — this is none other than 
the house of God." 

This foretaste of heaven, in the "secret place of the 
Most High" gave rise to Cowper's second hymn, that has 
become incorporated in all the standard hymn books of 
Christendom. 

How precious and memorable the stanzas of the fol- 
lowing hymn when we thus take into account the sur- 
rounding circumstances that gave them birth: — 

"Far from the world Lord, I flee, 
From strife and tumult far ; 
From scenes where Satan wages still 
His most successful war. 

11 The calm retreat, the silent shade, 
With prayer and praise agree ; 
And seem, by thy sweet bounty made 
For those who follow thee. 

"There, if thy Spirit touch the soul, 
And grace her mean abode, 
Oh with what peace, and joy, and love, 
She commanes with her God ! 

"There like the nightingale, she pours 
Her solitary lays, 
Nor ask a witness of her song, 
Nor thirst3 for human praise." 

Speaking of Cowper at this period, Montgomery says : — 
"The first fruits of his muse, after he had been bap- 
tized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, will ever be pre- 
cious (independent of their other merits) as the transcript 
of his happiest feelings, the memorials of his walk with 
God, and his daily experience amidst conflicts and dis- 
couragements of the consoling power of that religion in 
which he had found peace, and often enjoyed peace to 
a degree that passed understanding." 

Cowper was a man of prayer, and Newton said of him, 
"No one walked with God more closelv." 




1/ 



100 



William Cowper. 



Cowper's Olney Hymns- 

fOWPER had gone to Huntingdon to be near his 
brother, who was then studying at Cambridge. 
Here he made the acquaintance of the Unwins, 
who kindly received him as a member of their family, 
and became his warmest friends for life. 

After the death of Mr. Unwin in 1767, Rev. John 
Newton invited Cowper and Mrs. Unwin to move 
to Olney and secured a residence for them near his 
own dwelling. The twelve succeeding years became the 
happiest period of Cowper's life. 

Newton's estimate of Cowper's worth he in after years 
expressed in this strong language: — 

"In humility, simplicity, and devotedness to God, in 
the clearness of his views of evangelical truth, the strength 
and the comforts he obtained from them, and the uniform 
and beautiful example by which he ' adorned them, I 
thought he had but few equals. He was eminently a 
blessing, both to me and to my people, by his advice, his 
conduct, and his prayers. The Lord who had brought 
us together, so knit our hearts and affections, that for 
nearly twelve years we were seldom separated for twelve 
hours at a time, when we were awake and at home. The 
first six I passed in daily admiring and trying to imitate 
him; during the second six I walked pensively with him 
in the valley of the shadow of death." 

Newton had a thousand parishioners. In the culti- 
vation of this extensive field of usefulness, he em- 
ployed every available instrumentality. He says: "We 
had meetings two or three times in a week for prayer. 
These Cowper constantly attended with me. For a time 
his natural constitutional unwillingness to be noticed in 
public kept him in silence. But it was not very long 
before the ardency of his love to his Saviour, and his 




c 



Coivpcr's Olney hymns. 



101 




c 



desire of being useful to others, broke through every 
restraint. He frequently felt a difficulty and trepidation 
in the attempt; but, when he had once begun, all difficulty 
vanished, and he seemed to speak, though with self- 
abasement and humiliation of spirit, yet with that free- 
dom and fervency as if he saw the Lord, whom he ad- 
dressed, face to face." 

Newton felt the need of hymns specially adapted to 
these prayer-meetings and the heart experiences of the 
common people, and so in 1770 he induced Cowper to 
undertake their preparation. Six years later, by their 
united efforts, these hymns formed a volume, and were 
sent forth to the world under the title of the " Olney 
Hymn Book." 

Among the first was the following one, so often re- 
peated since, in similar circles of prayer. 

When we remember that at this time such prayer-meet- 
ings in private houses, not specially dedicated to God was 
something new, and quite an innovation on old customs, 
we see great force and beauty, in the wording of this 
hymn : — 

'•Jesus, where'er thy people meet, 
There they behold thy mercy-seat; 
Where'er they seek thee, thou art found, 
And every place is hallowed ground. 

"For thou, within no walls confined, 
Inhabitest the humble mind; 
Such ever bring thee where they come, 
And going take thee to their home. 

"Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few, 
Thy former mercies here renew; 
Here to our waiting hearts proclaim 
The sweetness of thy saving name. 

"Here may we prove the power of prayer 
To strengthen faith, and sweeten care, 
To teach our faint desires to rise, 
And bring all heaven before our eyes." 




102 



William Cowpcr. 



c: 



Birth place of " There is a fountain filled with blood." 

Sit is interesting to trace the origin of our great 
rivers, that carry with them so many and such varied 
blessings in their meandering course, so the child of 
God finds it a pleasing and profitable exercise to go back 
in the streams of hymn-history to their humble starting 
point. As Christianity was cradled in a manger, so 
"Rock of Ages," one of its most famous hymns is tracea- 
ble to the conversion of its author amid the enclosure of an 
Irish barn. What a mighty stream of influence has 
swept through, the world through the channel opened 
up by the singing of 

11 Jesus, lover of my soul," 
yet it was born in a lowly spring-house, to which "Wesley 
had fled for shelter from the infuriated mob. It was 
thus by the side of a little bubbling spring, he taught the 
world to sing of Christ, 

u Thou of life the fountain art, 
Freely let me take of thee." 

In the secluded shelter of some over-hanging trees and 
rocks that shaded a little brook, Mrs. Phoebe H. Brown 
was accustomed to resort in the summer of 1818, and co- 
mingle her voice in prayer and praise, with the soft mur- 
murs of the silver streamlet. That quiet nook gave 
birth to a hymn that has since been repeated the world 
over by the hosts of God's Israel, who with her can say, 
" I love to steal a while away. " 

The childrens' hymn, known and loved as far as the 
English language extends, 

" I think when I read that sweet story of old, " 
first echoed forth from an humble stage-coach in England, 
where it was written by a young lady in 1841. 

On the opposite page will be seen the little group in 
the Olney prayer-meeting, for which Cowper wrote his 



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as 

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Olney prayer -meeting. 



105 



immortal hvmn, that has encircled the world with its 
hallowed influences. The Great House is especially 
designated as the place where the Olney prayer-circle 
was accustomed to gather for addresses, singing, and 
prayer. 

Little did Cowper imagine, when he first heard 
Newton announce, and this small praying band unite in 
singing, that 

"There is a fountain filled with blood," 
that there was starting a song that would afterwards be 
caught up by unnumbered millions, and that a century 
later, while his 

" poor lisping, stammering tongue 

Lies silent in the grave, " 

would still be repeated from the rising to the setting of 
the sun — and continue to echo round the globe 

"Till all the ransomed church of God 
Be saved, to sin no more. " 

We give the last of the seven verses of this precious 

hymn, as they are generally omitted : — 

"Lord, I believe Thou bast prepared, 
Unworthy though I be. 
For me a blood-bought free reward, 
A golden harp for me. 

"'T is strung, and tuned for endless years, 
And formed by power divine, 
To sound in God the Father's ears 
No other name but Thine." 

These were days of sunshine in Cowper's spiritual 
firmament. Newton tells us how their voices came to 
blend, while singing of " the Lamb once slain." 

"I heard him and admired, for he could bring 
From his soft harp snch strains as angels sing: 
Could tell of free salvation, grace, and love, 
Till angels listened from their home above; 
I woke my lyre to join his rapturous strain. 
We sangr together ot the lamb once slain. " 




c 



108 



Cowper's grave. 



A Visit to Cowper's Grave. 

" I went alone. 'Twas summer time ; 
And, standing there before the shrine 

Of that illustrious bard, 
I read his own lamiliar name, 
And thought of his extensive fame, 
And felt devotion's sacred flame, 

Which we do well to guard. 

11 'Far from the world, Lord, I flee.' 
How sweet the words appeared to me, 

Like voices in a dream! 
'The calm retreat, the silent shade,' 
Describe the spot where he was laid, 
And where surviving friendships paid 

Ttieir tribute of esteem. 

"'There is a fountain.' As I stood 
I thought I saw the crimson ' flood,' 

And some 'beneath' the wave; 
I thought the stream still rolled along, 
And that I saw the 'ransomed' throng, 
And that I heard the ' nobler song' 
Of Jesus' 'power to save.' 

" 'When darkness long has veiled my mind,' 
And from these words I felt inclined 

In sympathy, to weep ; 
But ' smiling day ' has dawned at last, 
And all his sorrows now are past; 
No tempter now, no midnight blast, 

To spoil the poet's sleep. 
11 ' for a closer '' — even so, 
For we who journey here below 

Have lived too far from God. 
Oh, for that holy life I said, 
Which Enoch, Noah, Cowper, led! 
Ob, for that ' purer light' to shed 

Its brightness on * the road !' 

" ' God moves in a mysterious way ; ' 
But now the poet seemed to say, 

'No mysteries remain. 
On earth I was a sufferer, 
In heaven I am a conqnerer; 
God is his own inierpreter, 

And he has made it plain.'" 




c 



Singing of Cowper's hymn. 



109 



C 



The Hymn on which a Heart "Rose to God." 

fHILE Mr. Ralph Wells was hurrying to meet the 
cars, a Sunday school teacher hailed him, saying : 
I have just come from the hospital, where I found 
on one of the beds, one of my scholars, a lad who sent for 
me. I found that he had met with a terrible accident, 
that had nearly severed both his limbs from his body. 

" O teacher !" he said, "I have sent for you. I am 
glad you have come before I die. I have something to 
ask of you. I want you to tell me a little more about 
Jesus." 

" Well, my dear boy, have you a hope in Him ?" 

"Yes, teacher, thank God, I have had it for six 
months." 

" Why, you never said anything to me about it." 

"No, I did not, teacher, but I have had it, and I find 
it sustains me in this hour. I have only a few minutes 
to live, and I would like you to sing for me." 

" What shall I sing?" 

"O sing: — 

u There is a fountain filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins, 
And sinners plunged beneath that flood 
Lose all their guilty stains.' " 

The teacher began to sing. The dying lad joining in 
the song with a sweet smile on his countenance. 

"It was that hymn," said he, "among other things, on 
which my heart rose to Christ." 

He then put his arms up and said, "Teacher, bend 
your head." He bent it down. The .dying boy kissed 
him. " That is all I have to give you," said he. " Good 
bye," and he was gone. 




1/ 



110 



Cowper's hymn continued. 



; There is a fountain filled with blood" Illustrated. 

'ONTGOMERY thought the figure of a "fountain 

*§? filled" was faulty and ought to be represented as 

" springing up;" but the Christian world has not 

seen fit to adopt the substitute he proposed, which reads 

thus : — 

"From Calvary's cross a fountain flows 
Of water and of blood, 
More healing than Bethesda's pool, 
Or famed Siloa's flood. " 

A traveller, going over a mountainous region, through 
an accident, fell into a deep chasm, from which there 
seemed to be no way of escape. The sides were so steep 
that he could not climb up, and being so far away from 
the reach of human ears, he felt as if his cries were also 
in vain. While overwhelmed with the thought of im- 
pending ruin, he heard the murmur of a stream, that was 
stealing its way under the overhanging rocks. It seemed 
to be his only way of escape. As it was a matter of life 
and death, it did not take him long to decide to venture 
upon the stream of life. So he 

" plunged beneath that flood," 

and by its waters was carried out of " the horrible pit," 
into a place of safety. His life was thus saved ; his 
fears were gone, and in the clear sunlight of free- 
dom, he went on his way rejoicing. 

11 Lose all their guilty stains." 

A little girl expressed this thought very forcibly. She 
was asked: "Are you a sinner?" to which she promptly 
replied, " No, sir!" "Have you never done anything 
wrong?" " Oh, yes," she replied ; "a great many times." 
"How then can you say you are not a sinner?" "It is 
tooken away" said she, "I have trusted in Christ." 




r 



CowpeSs hymn continued. 



Ill 



Illustrated by a Death Scene. 



jj T was our privilege to preach in the Tenth Baptist 
^p> Church, Philadelphia, during a season of revival in 
January, 1874. At the close of one of the evening 
meetings, Captain Timothy Rogers, long a member of 
the church, and one of the noblest and most faithful fol- 
lowers of Jesus, rose, and plead with sinners to come to 
the "fountain filled with blood." At the conclusion of 
his earnest address, the pastor, Rev. A. J. Rowland, an- 
nounced a hymn. Captain Rogers requested that this 
might be changed to " There is a fountain filled with 
blood." "Yes," said the pastor, "let us sing Captain 
Rogers' favorite- hymn, and while we sing, let us all rise. 
If there be any who would be cleansed in this precious 
"fountain," let them come forward to the front seats as 
we sing, and be remembered in a closing prayer. " 

All arose ; among them Captain Rogers, who stood 
taller than all the rest, looking anxiously and tenderly 
over the room, to see who would accept the invitation. 
AVhile the words of the second verse were being sung: — 

" And there have I, as vile as he, 
Washed all iny sins away," 

the captain suddenly sank, and fell on the floor. 

A number of the brethren, among them Dr. S. Brown, 
hastened to his side, and carried him into an adjoining 
room. Thinking he had fallen in a fit, that would soon 
subside, the audience kept on singing the hymn. As 
they were singing the last verse, 

"Then, in a nobler, sweeter song, 
I'll sing thy power to save. 
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue 
Lies silent in the grave," 

the pastor returned to the audience-room, and said: 
"Captain Rogers is dead." The scene that followed 
baffles description. A wail of sorrow burst from every 



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1 



112 



Cowper continued. 




lip, and, while some fainted, the sound of weeping was 
heard everywhere. In the subsequent meetings a num- 
ber referred to the death-scene, as the means of their 
awakening and conversion. 

It is a singular fact that Captain Rogers had frequently 
said to the chorister of the church : " When I lie on my 
death-bed, I want you to come and sing over me the 
hymn, u There is a fountain filled with blood." 

Although at the time, he asked for the singing of the 
hymn at this meeting, he* had no idea of his death being 
at hand, yet it so happened, that under the sound of the 
singing of this hymn, led by this chorister, he passed away 
to mingle his praises with the singing hosts on high. 

Captain Rodgers was converted on his ship, while out 
at sea, and so anxious was he to confess Christ at once, 
that, a Baptist minister being at hand, he had his yawl- 
boat lowered in the China sea, and using it as a baptistery, 
he was baptised in the presence of his crew, and of the 
British fleet that was anchored near by. 

He was truly a veteran of the cross, and died with the 
full armor on. How literally he illustrated the sentiment 
of the lines of the hymn on which he had been speaking, 
and to which he had referred as his last utterance on 
earth : — 

"E'er since by faith, I saw the stream 
Thy flowing wounds supply, 
Redeeming love has been my theme, 
And shall be till I die." . 

A like occurrence took place with Rev. Dr. Beaumont. 
He had just announced with quivering lips the verse: — 

"The lowest step above thy seat 
Rises too high for Gabriel's feet 
In vain, the tall archangel tries, 
To reach thine height with wondering eyes." 

While it was being sung, he sank to the floor and died. 




Cowper's hymn. 



113 



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"The dying thief rejoiced to see 
That fountain in his day ; 
And there have I, as vile as he, 
Washed all my sins away. " 




HILE preaching in Maryland, I was told of a thief 
who was then and there rejoicing that the "fount- 
ain" was still open "in his day." 

The evening before the execution of a murderer, a de- 
voted Christian lady felt herself constrained to prolong 
her devotions on behalf of the culprit, before retiring. 

In her importunate prayer she mentioned thieves and 
similar characters as those for whom the atoning blood 
had been efficacious in apostolic times. Her soul was so 
stirred with sympathy, that she could not get asleep for 
a long time after going to bed. 

Toward midnight she thought she heard a noise be- 
neath her bed. At length she saw the head of a thief ap- 
pearing at the foot. Being alone and not near any of the 
family to whom she could call for help, she closed her 
eyes in silent prayer, and calmly trusted in divine aid 
for protection. 

The thief trod softly along the bed-side. To see if 
she was asleep, he bent over her pillow, coming so near 
that she felt his breath upon her face. 

He then quietly descended the stairway and endeavored 
to get out, but he could not find the key to the door, as 
that was kept in a secret place. 

While he was engaged in trying to escape, this Chris- 
tian heroine awoke a brother, and told him that there was 
a thief in the house who was striving to get out. 

Getting a lamp, they descended the stair-steps, when 
the light fell upon the face of the intruder, who was 
a man from the village whom they knew. He confessed 
that he came there to steal. Being unable to meet a note, 
due the next day, of three hundred dollars, he knew that 



W 



114 



Cowper's hymn illustrated. 



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this lady had that amount. Supposing she kept it in 
her bed-chamber, he concealed himself under her bed, 
intending to search for it when she was asleep. But her 
prayer for thieves so completely disarmed him, and so 
convicted him of sin, that he resolved to seek pardon in 
the blood of the Lamb. 

After hearing his confession, the sister was so impressed 
with the genuineness of his contrition, that she told her 
brother to get the money and loan him the amount 
needed. He afterward not only repaid the money, but 
became an earnest Christian, and at the time of my visit 
was superintendent of the Sunday school of the village. 




§EV. JOHN WESLEY was once stopped by a high- 
wayman, who demanded his money. After he had 
given it to him, he called him back, and said : " Let 
me speak one word to you ; the time may come when you 
may regret the course of life in which you are engaged. 
Remember this: The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from 
cdl sin." He said no more, and they parted. Many 
years afterwards, when he was leaving a church in which 
he had been preaching, a person came up and asked if 
he remembered being waylaid at such a time, referring 
to the above circumstances. Mr. Wesley replied that 
he recollected it. "I," said the individual, "was that 
man; that single verse on that occasion was the means 
of a total change in my life and habits. I have long 
since been attending the house of God and the Word of 
God, and I hope I am a Christian." 

FTER giving a black catalogue of criminals, among 
whom were thieves, drunkards, &c, the apostle adds: 
"such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye 
are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of God. " 



W 



Cowper's hymn illustrated. 



115 



C 



Calling upon a home missionary, a man remarked: 
"Sir, I hope you will excuse me, but I have been leading 
a very bad life, and I want to give it up. I want to 
work for my living in future. I was put in jail for 
stealing. A Bible reader used to visit and talk to us. 
While I was there I thought over what he said, and de- 
termined that when I got out I would try and get a liv- 
ing honestly. " While the missionary assured him of 
his aid, he also taught him that as long as he was Christ- 
less he was helpless in his good resolutions. 

The thief afterward attended upon the preaching of 
the Word, became deeply penitent, and soon realized 
the "peace of God which passeth all understanding." 

He wished to state publicly what grace had done for 
him, but it was thought best for him to wait awhile, and 
was so advised. Being absent from public worship on the 
next Sunday, it was ascertained that he was dangerously ill. 
The missionary found him lying on a miserable bed in a 
garret in great pain, expressed sympathy for him, 
and then alluded to the sufferings of Jesus. "Yes," 
said he, " that's the wonder when I think that he suffered 
for such as I — for such a wretch as I. " 

Being removed to a hospital to undergo an operation, 
he soon afterwards sank away. As the hymn — 
" There is a fountain filled with blood, " 



was repeated to him, he was greatly moved by 

second verse: — 

"The dying thief rejoiced to see 
That fountain in his day, 
And there have I, though vile as he, 
Washed all my sins away. " 



the 



"Yes," he exclaimed, "I am that thief, - 
m6) — it was written for me, — that's just me. " 



-it meant 




W 



116 



William Cowper. 



*0 



The Diversions of Cowper. 

^t X the shattered condition of Cowper's nervous system, 
<^p> he found it necessary to seek some recreations with 
which to occupy his active mind, and to turn it out 
of the channels of gloom and despondency into which it 
was so apt to run. He says: " It is no easy matter for 
the owner of a mind like mine to divert it from sad 
subjects, and fix it upon such as may administer to its 
amusement. " 

Some friends in hearty sympathy with him on account 
of his mental depression, presented him with some tame 
hares, to which he became greatly attached. They grew 
up under his oversight and became objects of great in- 
terest for eleven years. He has written beautifully of 
them, both in poetry and prose, in Latin and English. 
Of the two, he named Bess and Puss, he says : — 

"I always admitted them into the parlor after supper, 
when, the carpet, affording their feet a firm hold, they 
would frisk, and bound, and play a thousand gambols, 
in which Bess, being remarkably strong and fearless, 
was always superior to the rest, and proved himself the 
Vestris of the party. One evening, the cat, being in the 
room, had the hardiness to pat Bess upon the cheek, an 
indignity which he resented by drumming upon her back 
with such violence that the cat was happy to escape from 
under his paws, and hide herself. 

" Puss grew presently familiar, would leap into my lap, 
raise himself upon his hinder feet, and bite the hair from 
my temples. He would suffer me to take him up, and 
to carry him about in my arms ; and has more than once 
fallen fast asleep upon my knee. He was ill three days, 
during which time I nursed him, kept him apart from 
his fellows, that they might not molest him, (for, like 
many other wild animals, they persecute one of their own 



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i> 



IJ .' 




COWPEIt AND HIS HARES. 



Diversions of Cowper. 



119 



c: 



again 



to deepen 



of mental gloom, its shadows began 
around him. 

In January 1773, soon after Cowper had penned his 
last Olney Hymn, his sad depression culminated in an 
attack of insanity. He afterwards in a measure recovered 
his health, but while he became sane on every other sub- 
ject, yet, as long as life lasted, suffered under the mono- 
mania that he was rejected of God. 

His judicious friend, Mrs. Unwin, sought now to 
occupy his attention by writing poetry. He says : " When 
I can find no other occupation, I think; and when I 
think, I am apt to do it in rhyme." To this attempted 
diversion the world is indebted for those unrivalled poems 
that followed each other in such rapid succession and that 
have encircled his name with so much fame and honor. 

Southey describes him as " the most popular poet of his 
generation, and the best English letter-writer." 



species that is sick, ) and, by constant care, and trying 
him with a variety of herbs, restored him to perfect health. 
No creature could be more grateful than my patient after 
his recovery; a sentiment which he most significantly 
expressed by licking my hand, first the back of it, then 
the palm, then every finger separately, then between all 
the fingers, as if anxious to leave no part of it unsaluted: 
a ceremony which he never performed but once again, 
upon a similar occasion." 

Rabbits, guinea-pigs, dogs, canaries, goldfinches, a 
magpie, a jay, and a starling were added to his house- 
hold treasures. In addition to these means of recreation 
he tried his hand at sketching, and "drew mountains, 
valleys, woods, streams, ducks, and dabchicks." "I 
admire them," he wrote, "and Mrs. Unwin admires them, 
and her praise and my praise are fame enough for me." 

But notwithstanding these various efforts to allure 
his mind away from the return of that midnight 




120 



Origin of Cowper's hymn. 



Origin of "God moves in a mysterious way." 

'ONTGOMERY describes this hymn of Cowper's, 
as a "lyric of high tone and character, and rendered 
awfully interesting by the circumstances under which 
it was written, — in the light of departing reason." 

Its original title, "Light shining out of Darkness, " is 
supposed to have had reference to its singular origin. 

It is said, " When under the influence of the fits of 
mental derangement to which he was subject, he most 
unhappily, but firmly believed that the divine will was 
that he should drown himself in a particular part of the 
river Ouse, some two or three miles from his residence 
at Olney. One evening he called for a post-chaise from 
one of the hotels in the town, and ordered the driver to 
take him to that spot, which he readily undertook to do 
as he well knew the place. 

"On this occasion, however, several hours were con- 
sumed in seeking it, and utterly in vain. The man was 
at length most reluctantly compelled to admit that he 
had entirely lost his road. The snare was thus broken ; 
Cowper escaped the temptation; returned to his home, 
and immediately sat down and wrote the hyrnn," so de- 
scriptive of God's wonder-working providence, and that 
has proved a beacon light to many who have wandered 
in darkness. 

A somewhat similar providence is reported in the life 
of Augustine of whom it is said that having occasion to 
preach at a distant town, he took with him a guide to 
direct him in the way. This man by some unaccount- 
able means, mistook the road, and fell into a by-path. 

It afterwards proved that in this way the preacher's 
life was saved, as his enemies, aware of his journey, had 
placed themselves in the proper road with a design to 
kill him. 






W 



Cowper's hymns, continued. 



121 



M Can a woman's tender care 
Cease towards the child she bare?" 




age, 



C 



OWPER knew of a "mother's tender care" by 
sweet experience. These lines are in his hymn : — 

" Hark, my soul ! it is the Lord, " 

Though he lost his mother when only six years of 
yet forty years after, he wrote, " that not a week 
passes, (perhaps I might with equal veracity, say a day,) 
in which I do not think of her; such was the impression 
her tenderness made upon me, though the opportunity 
she had for showing it was so short. " 

In 1790, he received the gift of his mother's picture, 
on which he wrote a touching poem. The extract wc 
give will show the impress of a mother's love, — 

" My mother ! when I learned that thou wast dead, 
Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed? 
Hover'd thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, 
Wretch even then, life's journey jus' begun? 
Perhaps thou gavest me, though unfelt, a kiss; 
Perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss — 
Ah, that maternal smile ! it answers — Yes. 
I heard the bell toll'd on thy burial day, 
I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away, 
And, turning from my nursury window, drew 
A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu ! 
But was it such? It was. Where thou art gone 
Adieus find farewells are a sound unknown. 
May I but meet thee on that peaceful shore, 
The parting word shall pass my lips no more I 
Thy maidens, grieved themselves at my concern, 
Oft gave me promise of thy quick return. 
What ardently I wish'd, I long believed, 
And, disappointed still, was still deceived. 
By expectation every day beguiled, ' 
Dupe of to-morrow even from a child. 
Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went, 
Till, all my stock of infant sorrows spent, 
I learned at last submission to my lot, 
But, though I less deplored thee ne'er forgot. " 



'W 



122 



Samuel Davies. 



Author of "Lord ! I am thine, entirely thine." 

§EV. SAMUEL DAVIES, D. D. was the author of 
a number of choice hymns. He was born in Dela- 
ware, November, 3, 1724. His devoted Christian moth- 
er, believing that he had been given in answer to her 
earnest prayers, named him Samuel. 

At fifteen he became an earnest Christian, and began 
his preparation for the work of the ministry. At twenty- 
two he was licensed to preach, and soon after entered 
upon a field of labor in Virginia, which extended over 
several counties.. Great success attended his arduous 
and self-denying labors, so that in three years time one 
of his feeblest churches increased to a membership of 
three hundred. 

He was described as a "model of the most impressive 
oratory. As his personal appearance was venerable, yet 
benevolent and mild, he could address his auditory, 
either with the most commanding authority, or with the 
most melting tenderness. He seldom preached without 
creating some visible emotion in great numbers present." 

In 1759, he was chosen president of the college at 
Princeton, New Jersey, as successor to the celebrated 
Jonathan Edwards. Six years previously, he had vis- 
ited England, and received large benefactions on behalf 
of this institution. His sermons abound in striking 
thoughts and richest imagery. They were issued in 
three volumes, to which was appended his poems." 

At the beginning of the year 1761, he preached on the 
words, "This year thou shalt die." A month latter, he 
himself was a corpse. He was but thirty-six when he 
was laid in his coffin. As his venerable mother gazed 
upon him, lying there, she said : "There is the son of my 
prayers, and my hopes — my only son — my only earthly 
support. But there is the will of God, and I am satisfied." 



c: 



~w 



Samuel Davics' hymn. 



123 



C, 



Singing in Time of Peril. 

OW impressive was the singing of one of 
the hymns of Davies, as narrated in the 
Trophies of Song : — 

" A Christian captain, who had a 
Christian crew, was caught near a rocky 
shore in a driving storm. They were 
being driven rapidly toward the rocks, 
when he ordered them to 'cast anchor. ' 

"They did so, but it broke. He or- . 
dered them to cast the second. They 
did so, but it dragged. He then or- 
dered them to cast the third and last. 
" They cast it while the captain went 
down to his room to pray. He fell on 
his knees and said, ' O Lord, this vessel 
is thine, these noble men on deck are 
thine. If it be more for thy glory that 
our vessel be wrecked on the rocks, and 
we go down in the sea, 'thy will be 
done. ' But if it be more for thy glory that we live to 
work for thee, then hold the anchor, ' Calmly he rose 
to return to the deck, and as he went, he heard a chorus 
of voices singing : — 

" ' Lord, I am thine ! ' 

It seemed like an angel song. Reaching the deck, he 
found his brave men standing with their hands on the 
cable, that they might feel the first giving of the anchor, 
on which hung their lives, and looking calmly on the 
raging of the elements, as they sung ' with the spirit and 
with the understanding also : — ' 

" l Lord, I am thine !' 
u The anchor held till the storm was past, and they 
anchored safe within the bay. " 




124 



David Denham's hymn. 



'' Home, sweet, sweet home. " 



longer 



f|EV. DAVID DENHAM a Baptist minister in 
England issued in 1837, the well known hymn 
of "Sweet Home,"commencing, 

"Mid scenes of confusion and creature complaints." 

He wrote this and much of his poetry for the religious 
magazines. His field of ministerial labor was Margate, 
London, and Cheltenham. Having in early life been 
called to his "sweet home" above he need no 
sing in the language of his hymn :-— 

"I sigh from this body of sin to be free, 
Which hinders my joy and communion with thee ; 
Though now my temptation like billows may foam, 
All, all will be peace, when I'm with thee at home. 
Home, home, sweet, sweet home: 
Prepare me dear Saviour, for glory, my home.'' 

The tune of "Sweet Home" was written by Sir Henry 
Rowley Bishop in 1829, and the song of "Sweet Home" 
by J. Howard Payne in 1825. He sold it to Charles 
Kemble for 30 pounds. When it was first sung in pub- 
lic by Miss Tree it so fascinated a wealthy gentleman 
of London that he made her the offer of his hand and 
fortune, which were accepted. Paine was a homeless 
wanderer. 

"How often," said he, "have I been in the heart of 
Paris, Berlin and London, or some other city, and heard 
persons playing 'Sweet Home/ without a shilling to buy 
the next meal, or a place to lay my head. The world 
has literally sung my song until every heart is familiar 
with its melody. Yet I have been a poor wanderer from 
my boyhood. My country has turned me ruthlessly 
from office, and in my old age I have to submit to hu- 
miliation for my daily bread. " 

He died at Tunis while acting as U. S. Consul. 



r 



" Sweet home " illustrated. 



125 



Midnight Echo of " Home, sweet, sweet home. " 

tT was our privilege to hear, from the lips of one who 
is now a popular pastor of one of the largest churches 
in Philadelphia, the following interesting statement, 
relating to the echo of a hymn that proved to be the 
means of his salvation. Having run away as a prodigal 
from his father's home in Virginia when a young man, 
he had had little regard for the broken hearted parents 
that he had forsaken, until one Christmas night, when 
in the fourth story bed-room of a hotel on Chestnut street 
Philadelphia, he was awakened by the chimes of bells of 
an Episcopal church near by. The tune of "Home, 
sweet, sweet home," was being played. As in the quiet 
of the midnight hour the sound of this hymn floated over 
the city, thoughts of his forsaken home began to echo 
through the chambers of his soul. A father's plaintive 
voice, and a mother's streaming eyes seemed to beckon 
him home again. His pillow soon became wet with tears 
of penitence. At the repetition of the tune he could no 
longer remain in bed. His heart was now yearning for 
"Home, sweet, sweet home/' and soon his hands were 
packing up to start for home, and not long after his feet 
were hastening down the flight of stairs, up Chestnut 
street, down Broad street, and at the Baltimore depot 
he took the first train of cars for home. 

How many similar prodigals would start for the heav- 
enly land, if they would wake from their slumbers long 
enough to listen to some of those sweet echoes that tell 
us of the soul's "sweet, sweet home. " 

" My Father's house on high, — 
Home of my soul, — how near, 
At times, to faith's farseeing eye, 
Thy golden gates appear! " 




c 



126 



Dickerson's hymn. 



Singing- The Heart Open. 



r 



Presbyterian minister, an American by birth, but 
of Scottish parentage, happening to be in New Or- 
leans, was asked to visit an old Scottish soldier who 
had sickened, and was conveyed to the hospital. 

On entering and announcing his errand, the Scotch- 
man told him, in a surly tone, that he desired none of 
his visits — that he knew how to die without the aid of a 
priest. In vain he informed him that he was no priest, 
but a Presbyterian minister, come to read him a portion 
of the Word of God, and to speak to him about eternity. 
The Scotchman doggedly refused to hold any conversa- 
tion with him, and he was obliged to take his leave. 

Next day, however, he called again, thinking that the 
reflection of the man on his own rudeness, would prepare 
the way for a better reception. But his manner and tone 
were equally rude and repulsive ; and at length he turn- 
ed himself in bed, with his face to the wall, as if deter- ' 
mined to hear nothing, and relent nothing. 

The minister bethought himself, as a last resourse, of 
the hymn well known in Scotland, the composition of 
David Dickson, minister of Irvine, beginning, "O mo- 
ther dear, Jerusalem, when shall I come to thee?" which 
his Scottish mother had taught him to sing to the tune 
of Dundee. He began to sing his mother's hymn. 

The soldier listened for a few moments in silence, but 
gradually turning himself round, with a relaxed counte- 
nance, and a tear in his eye; inquired, "Who taught you 
that?" "My mother, *' replied the minister. "And so 
did mine, " rejoined the now softened soldier, whose heart 
was opened by the recollections of infancy and of country ; 
and he now gave a willing ear to the man that found the 
key to his heart. 



w 



Two incidents. 



127 



Conquered By Song. 

tN Louisiana, over a century ago, itinerant Methodist 
preachers fared roughly. A travelling minister was 
one evening reduced to the very verge of starvation. 
He had spent the preceding night in a swamp, and 
had taken no food for thirty-six hours, when he reached 
a plantation. He entered the house and asked for food 
and lodging. The mistress of the house, a widow with 
several daughters and negroes, refused him. 

He stood warming himself by the fire, a few minutes, 
and began singing a hymn commencing, — 

" Peace my soul, thou needest not fear ; 
The Great Provider still is near.'' 
He sang the whole hymn, and when he looked around 
they were all in tears. He was forthwith invited to 
stay not a single night, but a whole week, with them. 

Mr. Bushnell of Utica, 1ST. Y. had occasion to stop 
at a hotel in a neighboring town. Some twenty men 
were in the bar room in which temperance was being de- 
nounced as the work of priests and politicians. 

Mr. Bushnell, finding it impossible to stem the current 
of abuse by an appeal to their reason, proposed singing a 
temperance song, and accordingly commenced the 
" Stanch Teetotaller. " On glancing around the room 
after he had concluded, he observed the tear trickling 
down the cheek of almost every man. 

The song carried their thoughts back to their families 
and firesides, surrounded as they once were with plenty 
but now with poverty and disgrace. Those hardened 
men could but acknowledge its truth by tears. 

Soon after the landlord came in, and he repeated it for 
his special benefit. After Mr. Bushnell had concluded, 
he grasped him by the hand, and exclaimed, " / anil 
never sell another glass of liquor as long as 1 live. " 




r 



128 



Philip. Doddridge. 



g^te^ 



Author of " Grace, 'tis a charming sound. " 

HIS is one among the three hundred hymns penned by 
Philip Doddridge, D. D., widely known by his 
commentary on the Scriptures, the " Family Exposi- 
tor," and as the author of "The Rise and Progress of 
Religion in the Soul " This has been sc widely circu- 
lated and translated into so many languages, that it has 
been designated as the most useful book of the eighteenth 
century. It was written at the suggestion of Dr. Watts, 
whom he regarded as one of his warmest friends. 

Doddridge was born in London,* June 26, 1702. 

Of his eaily life his biographer says: "At his birth he 
shewed sc little sign of life that he was laid aside as dead. 
Eut one of the attendants, thinking she perceived some 
motion, or breath, took that necessary care of him, on 
which, in those tender circumstances, the feeble frame of 
life depended, which was so near expiring as soon as it 
was kindled." He was the twentieth child of a mother, 
who was the daughter of an exiled Bohemian clergyman, 
the Rev. John Bauman. The mother had imbibed the 
devoted Christian spirit of her father, of whom, it is said, 
that for conscience's and Christ's sake, he left Prague in 
Bohemia about 1626. Giving up a large estate and 
friends at the age of twenty-one, he withdrew on foot 
from his country, clad as a peasant, "carrying with him 
nothing but a hundred broad pieces of gold, plaited in a 
leathern girdle, and a Bible of Luther's translation." 

Doddridge counted it a great honor to have descended 
from these suffering saints of Christ. 

His mother taught him the history of the Old and 
New Testaments before he could read, by the assistance 
of some Dutch tiles in the room where they commonly 
met. As these early impressions shaped his destiny, and 
were so valuable to him in after life, he frequently rec- 



C 



w 




DODDKIDUE S MOTHER TEACHING HIM. 



Philip Doddridge. 



131 




C 



commended to parents to imitate her example. With 
such a mother's training, it is no wonder that it is said 
that while attending grammar school at Kingston, the 
one previously taught by his grandfather Bauman, from 
his tenth to his thirteenth year "he was remarkable for 
his piety and diligent application to learning." His pa- 
rents dying while he was young he could afterwards say, 
when pleading for orphans, " I know the heart of an 
orphan, having been deprived of both of my parents at 
an age in which it might reasonably be supposed I should 
be most sensible of such a loss." 

In his orphanage he found it difficult to pursue his 
studies for the ministry. A tempting offer was made 
of assistance in the study of law. He was to return an 
answer at a certain time. As the period drew near he 
devoted one morning to seek divine direction, and while 
in the act of prayer the post-man called at the door with 
a letter from the Rev. Samuel Clark, a Presbyterian 
minister, in which he said that he had heard of his dif- 
ficulties, and offered to give him the needed aid to fit 
him for the ministry. This he looked upon as an answer 
from heaven, "and" says he, "while I live I shall always 
adore so seasonable an interposition of divine Providence." 

When just twenty years old he entered the ministry. 
His first sermon was greatly honored of God in the con- 
version of two souls. It was delivered at Hinckley, on 
the text, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, 
let him be Anathema, Maran atha. " 

His first charge was at Kib worth. In 1730 he took 
charge of a church, and started an academy at North- 
ampton. This was designed for the training of young 
men for the ministry. About one hundred and twenty 
of his students entered the sacred office. Here he spent 
the rest of his life, attending to his collegiate and church 
duties, and writing his numerous and voluminous works. 



¥ 



132 



Humor of Doddridge. 



DoddrkW is described as a man " above the middle 
stature, extremely thin and slender. His sprightliness 
and vivacity of countenance and manner commanded 
general attention in the pulpit and private circles. Mr. 
Hervey, speaking of spending a night with him at 
Northampton, says: "I never spent a more delightful 
evening, or saw one that seemed to make nearer ap- 
proaches to heaven. A gentleman of great worth and 
rank in the town, invited us to his house, and gave us 
an elegant treat; but how mean was his provision, how 
coarse his delicacies, compared with the fruit of my friend's 




lips! — they dropped as the honey-comb, and were a well 
of life." 

Doddridge possessed a vein of humor that would some- 
times reveal itself through his pen. His daughter having 
had a thorn pierce her foot one day, he sent her these 
lines : — 

" Oft I have heard the ancient sages say 
The path of virtue is a thorny way : 
If so, dear Celia, we may surely know 
Which path it is you tread, which way it is you go. " 

This was the little daughter who was asked, how it 
was that everybody loved her, when she answered : "I 
know not," " unless it be that I love every body." 

To one of his pupils, whose weak imagination had led 
him to think that he had invented a machine by which 
he could fly to the moon, he sent these lines: — 

" And will Volatio leave this world so soon 
To fly to his own native seat, the moon? 

•Twill stand, however, in some little stead 
That he sets out with such an empty head." 

Dr. Johnson, who had been styled "the Old King of 
Critics," said that the following lines, written by Dod- 
dridge on his family arms, Dum vivimus vivamus, was 
the finest epigram in the English language: — 






1/ 



y«» ^»\ 













Doddridge continued. 



135 




C 



"'Live while you live,' the epicure would say, 
'And seize the pleasures of the present day.' 
'Live while you live,' the sacred preacher cries, 
'And give to God each moment as it flies.' 
Lord, in my view let both united be: 
I live in pleasure when I live to thee. ' 

Of this " pleasure," he made frequent mention in his diary, 
and letters. After a season of sickness, he wrote: — 

"It is impossible to express the support and comfort, 
which God gave me on my sick-bed. His promises were 
my continual feast. They seemed, as it were, to be all 
united in one stream of glory, and poured into my breast. 
When I thought of dying, it sometimes made my very 
heart to leap within me." 

" Awake, my soul, to meet the day," 

was written by Doddridge, who arose every morning at 
5 o'clock. It was entitled, "A Morning Hymn, to be 
Sung at Awaking and Rising." His custom was to 
spring out of bed, while using the words of the sixth 
verse, commencing, "As rising now," &c. His Com- 
munion Hymn, is much used; the first stanza reads: — 

'My God! and is thy table spread? 

And does thy cup with love overflow? 
Thither be all thy children led, 

And let them all its sweetness know." 

Of this "sweetness" he speaks on this wise, after drinking 
from the cup of affliction, occasioned by the death of a 
much-loved daughter : — 

" I recollected this day, at the Lord's table, that I 
had some time ago, taken the cup at that ordinance with 
these words, 'Lord, I take this cup as a public solemn 
token, that, having received so inestimable a blessing as 
this, I will refuse no other cup which thou shalt put 
into my hands.' God hath taken me at my ivord, but I 
will not retract it; I repeat it again with regard to every 
future cup, much sweetness is mingled with this potion." 




1 



13G 



Doddridge's hymns. 



^ 



When, through excessive labor, a deep seated con- 
sumption so enfeebled him, that he was hardly able to 
speak or move his dying body, the following incident oc- 
curred that illustrates the verse of one of his best hymns : — 

"When death o'er nature shall prevail, 
And all its power of language fail, 
Joy through my swimming eyes shall break, 
And mean the thanks I cannot speak." 

"What, in tears again, my dear doctor," said Lady 
Huntingdon, as she entered his room and found him weep- 
ing over the Bible lying before him. "I am weeping, 
madam," he faintly replied, "but they are tears of joy and 
comfort. I can give up my country, my friends, my rel- 
atives, into the hands of God; and as to myself, I can as 
well go to heaven from Lisbon, as from my own study 
at Northampton." This calm resignation he had beau- 
tifully expressed in his hymn: — 

"While on the verge of life I stand, 
And view the scene on either hand, 
My spirit struggles with its clay, 
And longs to wing its flight away. 

Where Jesus dwells my soul would be; 
It faints my much-loved Lord to see; 
Far"th ! twine no more about my heart, 
For 'tis far better to depart." 

" My profuse night-sweats " says he, "are weakening to 
my frame; but the most distressing nights to this frail 
body have been as the beginning of heaven to my soul. 
God hath, as it were, let heaven down upon me in those 
nights of weakness and waking. Blessed be his name." 

It was thus, from blissful experience, he could say, in 
the language of his hymn : — 

"When, at this distance, Lord! we trace 
The various £rlorh s of thy fac , 
What transport pours o'er all our breast, 
And charms our cares and woes to rest!" 




c 



w 



Doddridge continued. 



137 



C 



Doddridge yielded to the advice of his friends to go 
to the warmer climate of Lisbon, for the winter of 1751. 
"I see indeed no prospect of recovery," said the dying 
man, "yet my heart rejoiceth in my God and my Saviour, 
and I can call him, under this failure of every thing else, 
its strength and everlasting portion." 

"On the 30th of September," writes one of him, "ac- 
companied by his anxious wife and servant, he sailed from 
Falmouth ; and, revived by the soft breezes and the ship's 
stormless progress, he sat in his chair in the cabin enjoying 
the brightest thoughts of all his life. 'Such transporting 
views of the heavenly world is my Father now indulging 
me with, as no words can express,' was his frequent ex- 
clamation to the tender partner of his voyage." 

When the ship was gliding up the Tagus, and Lisbon, 
with its groves and gardens and sunny towers, loomed 
up in the distance before him, the enchanting scene 
brought vividly before his mind that city which hath foun- 
dations, of which he so sweetly wrote in one of his 
hymns : — 

"See! — Salem's golden spires, 
la beauteous prospect, rise, 
And brighter crowns than mortals wear, 
Which sparkle through the skies." 

Two weeks after the vessel landed at Lisbon, he ex- 
changed the shores of time for the sunny plains of the 
Canaan above. The "peace of God which passeth all un- 
derstanding" smoothed his dying pillow and spread such 
a halo of glory around his death-couch, that his afflicted 
wife could sit down afterwards and write to her children, 
saying : "Oh, my dear children, help me to praise Him. 
Such supports, such consolations, such comforts has he 
granted, that my mind at times is astonished and is 
ready to burst into songs of praise under its most exquisite 
distress." 



m 



138 



Philip Doddridge, 




r 



Origin of Doddridge's Hymns. 

ODDRIDGE possessed great versatility of talent. 
As, in his day, there was not a great variety of hymns 
adapted to the different subjects of discourse, he 
was accustomed, while his heart was aglow with the com- 
position of his sermon, to arrange the leading thoughts 
in a hymn. This was sung at the close of his preaching, 
and served to give emphasis to his utterances, and to fix 
the truth more indelibly in the minds and upon the 
hearts of his hearers, for instance, after a sermon on 
the words, "Unto you therefore which believe, he is 
precious, " he gave out the sweet hymn he had prepared : — 

"Jesus, I love thy charming name; 
Tis music to mine ear: 
Fain would I souad it out so loud, 
That earth .and heaven could hear." 

After preaching on the text, "There remaineth there- 
fore a rest to the people of God," he announced the fa- 
vorite Sunday hymn, beginning, 

" Lord of the Sabbath hear our vows. " 

As now in use, the hymn is often made to commence with 
the second verse : — 

"Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love, 
But there's a nobler rest above ; 
To that our laboring souls aspire 
With ardent hope and strong desire." 

The Rev. Dr. James Hamilton, referring to these 
hymns thus originated, says: — 

" If amber is the gum of fossil trees, fetched up and 
floated off by the ocean, hymns like these are a spiritual 
amber. Most of the sermons to which they originally 
pertained have disappeared forever; but, at once beautiful 
and buoyant, these sacred strains are destined to carry 
the devout emotions of Doddridge to every shore where his 
Master is loved and where his mother-tongue is spoken." 




Doddridge continued. 



139 



Doddrige led by a Special Providence. 

flS RE AT events often turn on a small pivot. The field 

^j? of Doddridge's great usefulness was Northampton, 
yet he felt quite reluctant to go there, when the call 

was first extended, because of his sense of weakness and 

unfitness. 

Among the means, which Providence used to de- 
cide the question, he mentions the following: — 

On the last Sunday in November, 1729, he went to 
Northampton to decline the call, and, as he says, "to 
dispose them to submit to the will of God in events, 
which might be most contrary to their views and inclin- 
ations." To this end, he had arranged a sermon on the 
text, "And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, 
saying, ' The will of the Lord be done/ " But he adds : — 
"On the morning of that day, an incident happened, 
which affected me greatly. Having been much urged 
on Saturday evening, and much impressed with the ten- 
der entreaties of my friends, I had, in my secret devotion, 
been spreading the affair before God, though as a thing 
almost determined in the negative; appealing to Him, 
that my chief reason for declining the call, was the ap- 
prehension of engaging in more business than I was ca- 
pable of performing, considering my age, the largeness 
of the congregation, and that I had no prospect of an 
assistant. As soon as ever this address ended, I passed 
through a room of the house in which I lodged, where 
a child was reading to his mother, and the only words I 
heard distinctly were these, ' And as thy days, so shall 
thy strength be" This seemed a voice from heaven, he 
afterwards accepted the call and wrote of hie charge : — 

"T is not a cause of small import 
The pastor's care demands! 
But what might fill an angel's heart, 
And filled a Saviours hands." 



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140 



Doddridge's hymns. 



Doddridge's Hymn Sung with Dying Breath. 

RS. SARAH L. SMITH left Boston in 1833, for a 
foreign missionary field, where, two years later she 
sank into the grave, in the thirty-fourth year of her 
age. "Tell my friends," said she, "I would not for all 
the world lay my remains anywhere but here, on mis- 
sionary ground." Of her triumphant death, an eye- 
witness wrote: — 

"We sung the first verse of that beautiful hymn of 
Doddridge, on the eternal Sabbath : — 

"'Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love, 
But there's a nobler rest above; 
To that our laboring souls aspire 
With ardent hope and strong desire.' 

"To my surprise, her voice, which she had so long 

been unable to use for singing, was occasionally heard 

mingling with ours. Her face beamed with a smile of 

ecstacy; and so intense was the feeling, expressed in her 

whole aspect, that we stopped after the first verse, lest 

she should even expire while drinking the cup of joy, 

we had presented to her. But she said to us 'Go on;' 

and, though all were bathed in tears, and hardly able to 

articulate, we proceeded to sing : — 

a 'No more fatigue, no more distress, 
Nor sin, nor hell shall reach the place; 
No groans to mingl*- with the sonrs. 
Which warble from immortal tongues/ 

"I was sitting with her hand in mine. While singing 
this second verse, she pressed it, and turned to me at the 
same time such a heavenly smile as stopped my utterance. 
Before we reached the end, she raised both her hands 
above her head, and gave vent to her feelings, in tears 
of pleasure, and almost in shouting. Afterwards she 
said, 'I have had a little glimpse of what I am going 
to see It seemed a glorious sight/ " 




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i 



An incident. 



141 



•0 



The Hymn-prayer at the Gate. 

T the close of an "Illustrated Sermon" inquirers and 
others were invited to retire to an adjoining room for 
prayer. As many filled the room and were disposed 
to take the prodigal's first step homeward, for the encour- 
agement of such, a stranger, an old gentleman from the 
South, arose and said : "Over ibrty years ago, during a 
season of similar awakening in Virginia, a young prodi- 
gal felt it was time for him to start home. He had 
never been accustomed to pray and felt afraid to venture 
near the Majestic Ruler of the universe. He was then 
attending an academv, a mile distant from his father's 
house. Taking a short cut through the fields to his 
home, he thought he could possibly find some suitable 
place to unburden his heavily-laden heart in prayer. 

" As he beheld a retired spot in the fence-corner, he con- 
cluded to open his lips there. But his courage failed him, 
and he said to himself, 'In the distance is a big, white 
oak tree; that will shield me.' But when under the 
tree his stubborn will would still not yield. A fork in 
the road and nearly a dozen other places he tried, but 
when he drew near to them, the tempter also drew near, 
and caused postponement, until at length he got to the 
gate at the head of the lane leading to the house. This 
was the last resort where he could pray unseen. It 
seemed to him as the turning point. As he sank at Jesus' 
feet, a hymn came to his lips as the language of his heart, 
and so he cried out: — 

" ' Show pity, Lord ! Lord, forgive ; 
Let a rtpenting sinner live. ' 

The six verses of that hymn-prayer decided his destiny. 
He became a minister, has been preaching many years, 
and is now the old man you see before you." 




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142 



Doddridge's hymn. 




" happy day that fixed my choice." 

OINING the church is often at- 
tended with the singing of this 
expressive hymn, written by 
Philip Doddridge. 

The fourth verse was once the 
means of bringing peace to an 
anxious soul, as thus described 
by an English writer: — 

" It was my happiness some 
time since to be a guest in a fam- 
ily. One morning I saw one of 
the servants in the deepest exercise of soul about her 
salvation. She had been singing that hymn, — 

" ' Now rest my long divided heart, 

Fixed on this blissful centre rest ; 
"With ashes, who would grudge to part, 
When called on angels' food to feast. '' 

" I saw her troubled. She felt she had not loved God 
enough, or prayed enough, or wept enough. I knew she 
was occupying her mind about herself, and that she did 
not see what Christ was. I remarked that self was mere 
' ashes. ' I asked why not part with the condemned 
doomed ashes of self, and believe in Jesus ? It was dur- 
ing the family service I saw her countenance so change 
from its old sadness into happiness and joy ; and I 
thought — What a revulsion is taking place in that mind! 
and, wishing to know for myself, I called her aside into 
the drawing-room. I said, ' You seem happy now. * 
' I am happy, ' was the reply. ' What has made you 
happy?' 'Oh, I did just what you told me to do. I 
put myself down to the third chapter of John. ' l What 
do you mean ?' ' Why there where it says, * God so 
loved the world. ' 'Yes, but was that a world of saints 




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Doddridge s hymn continued. 



143 



or of angels ? ' ' Xo. ' ' What was it then ? ' ' A world 
of sinners. Then I put myself down into that world and 
I found God loved me, and had given his Son for me. ' 

THIS hymn is often used as fitly describing the birth- 
day into the kingdom, and. is in this respect like the one 
Wesley wrote : — 

" for a thousand tongues to sing, " 

which he styled, " For the anniversary oj 'one's conversion.'' 
In 1871, there was an extensive revival in Wisconsin, 
and in one church they adopted the plan, whenever on 
an evening, a sinner decided to be Christ's, the audience 
united in singing : — 

"Oh, happy day that fixed my choice 
On Thee, my Saviour and my God. " 

" After the third night, there was the blessed privi- 
lege of singing it every evening for fifty days, for one or 
more, in whom this purpose was newly formed: and 
many were led to make the choice while it was sung. M 

The chorus and tune of " Happy day/' became wed- 
ded to this hymn, and was everywhere and frequently 
sung during the great revival in 1858. A Maine pKys- 
ician was requested to certify to what is said in the sec- 
ond verse, — 

"'Tia done, the great transaction's done; 
I am my Lord's, and He is mine," 

when he answered, "I can certify to all but the the last 
words. I can say 'I am the Lord's/ but cannot say 
'He is mine. ' I have no consciousness of his accept- 
ance of me. " And yet his experience verified the Scrip- 
ture statement, "With the heart man believeth un.to 
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made 
unto salvation. ' For the moment he opened his mouth 
and made this confession, he realized the sweet assurance, 
and afterwards could say, "He is mine. " 




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144 



Doddridge's hymn. 



".Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve, 
And press with vigor on : 
A heavenly race demands thy zeal, 
And an immortal crown. " 




MINISTERIAL brother says that when a child he 
heard a sermon on the text, "So run that ye obtain," 
and hearing the members so urgently exhorted to 
engage in a race, he thought it was going to take place 
right after the service. Greatly did he feel disappointed, 
when, having hastened out of church to get a good posi- 
tion on the fence, from which he could get a good view 
of the racers, he found that they did not "run a bit." 

In Cunningham valley, Pa., we had literally such a 
race at the close of preaching. The church consisted of 
but one audience-room, and that was wedged so full 
of hearers, that it was impossible in a prayer-meeting 
service to speak to those who desired to make known 
their anxieties, and to seek special advice. So we secured 
three rooms at a hotel a few squares distant. But these, 
proving inadequate to hold all, there was a regular race 
at the close of each service to gain admittance. 

As there was a thaw in mid -winter, and the roads un- 
paved, it was an amusing sight to see the audience splash- 
ing through the mud on a regular trot, — men, women 
and children running as for their lives. 

What still added to the impressiveness of the scene was 
the fact that the tavern sign, swinging on its rusty pivots 
over our heads as we entered the tavern, screeched most 
piteously, as if it were uttering the death groans of King 
Alcohol, and so they proved to be. 

Most of the inmates of the landlord's family becoming 
subjects of grace, the sign-post was cut down after the 
close of our meeting, and the building was afterwards used 
for other purposes. 



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Doddridge's hymn Illustrated. 



145 



A Hymn of One Word. 

tN an article concerning* the Bedouin Arabs, in the 
Christian Standard, Dr. Stephen Fish gives the 
origin of a hymn made up of one word. Says he : 
"Many Bedouin Arabs have embraced the Christian re- 
ligion. Mr. M. Roysce, of Jerusalem, gave me a very 
interesting account of the conversion of an Arab whom 
he knew to be a poet. Soon after he was converted 
Mr. Roysce was anxious to see if he would write relig- 
ious poetry. He requested Suleiman to court the Muses, 
and compose for him a poem on the duties of the Christ- 
ian missionary, and he did so, and wrote the following : — 

" Taiyib, taiyib, taiyib, taiyib, 
Taiyib, taiyib, taiyib, 
Taiyib, taiyib, taiyib, taiyib, 
Taiyib, taiyib, taiyib." 

"Any trivial sentiment would not bear repeating quite 
so many times, but the translation of i Taiyib ' is ' Go 
on, ' and the Arab, zealous in his new life, could think 
of nothing but going ahead in it and growing better and 
better. " 

{3 , . ; 

fp O a discouraged Christian who was about to give up 

Ctp some good work because he saw no results, a fellow 

laborer remarked, "I'll give out a hymn and you sing 

it. It is common metre. " The verse above translated 

in English was the one announced : — 

" Go on, go on, go on, go on, 
Go on, go on, go on, 
Go on, go on, go on, go on, 
Go on, go on, go on. " 

The advice thus given was heeded. The weary one 
did "go on, " and glorious results followed. 




& 



146 



Doddridge's hymn. 



A Revival Started by Singing a Hymn. 

prayer-meeting of a country village was attended by 

fbut few during a season of coldness. The pastor 
was absent, his place being supplied by one of his 
deacons, who, for months past, had been deeply mourn- 
ing in secret the sad decline. 

Dr. Belcher says: " The hymn he selected with which 
to commence the service was the one : — 

" ' Hear, gracious Faviour, from thy throne, 
And send thy various blessings down. ' 

Two or three verses were sung to an old tune, till the 
good deacon came to the last, which thus reads. The 
reader will observe especially the last two lines : — 

" ' In answer to our fervent cries, 
Give us to see thy church arise; 
Or, if that blessing seem too great, 
Give us to mourn its low estate. ' 

"While reading this verse, the good man paused : it evi- 
dently did not exactly accord with the feelings of his 
soul : it was not the expression of his prayer. He in- 
dulged a moment's thought, — swift and excellent : an 
alteration suggested itself, — his eye sparkled with joy, 
— and out it came: — 

" ' In answer to our fervent cries, 
Give us to see thy church arise ; 
That blessing, Lord, is not too great, 
Though now we mourn its low estate. ' 

Every heart was arrested, and sudden emotion so over- 
powered all in the little assembly that they could scarce- 
ly sing the words ; but each in silence gave to the senti- 
ment his own earnest amen. They happily proved it 
to be true. From that evening a revival began : the 
church arose from its slumber to new faith and works; 
and very soon the windows of heaven were opened and 
a plenitude of blessings was showered down, which con- 
tinned for several years. " 



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Doddridge 's hymn. 



147 



C 



Heaven as Represented in Song. 

WRITER says in the Ladies 1 Repository : " Mr. 
Editor, in your notes on Sunday school songs you 
quote from one of our hymn-writers the lines — 

" ' Golden Hereafter ! 
Thine ever bright rafter 
Will shake in the thunder of sanctified song. ' 

"Can you kindly refer me to the author and his place 
of residence, that I may write to him? 

" He seems to possess information which I have been 
unable to get from my pocket Bible, and it is possible 
that he can relieve my anxiety about the ' Golden Here- 
after. ' 

"What I want to know is, whether there is any danger 
of the plastering or timbers tumbling down when the 
rafters shake. Yours in affliction. " 

After a thirty years' residence in Jamaica, a missionary 
remarks, "One who knows what it is to be exposed to 
the sun <5f the torrid zone, shudders to read the lines of 
Doddridge, describing Heaven: — 

"'No midnight shade, no clouded sun, 
But sacred, high, eternal noon. ' 

" The idea is intolerable. It terrifies one to think of it. 
The man who wrote the lines must have lived far north, 
where the glimpse of the sun was a rare favor, and his 
highest enjoyment to bask in its rays a live-long sum- 
mer day. 

"I met once in Jamaica with a black boy, under the 
shade of a cocoa-nut tree, where we both had taken shelt- 
er from the glare of the meridian sun, and the dazzling 
sea-side sandy road. I said, 'Well, my lad, did you 
ever hear of heaven? 'Me hear, Massa.' 'And what 
sort of a place do you think it will be?' ' Massa, it must 
be a very cool place. ' " 



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148 



Duffield 7 s hymn. 



C 



^^ Origin of "Stand np! stand up for Jesus." 

SOURING the revival period of 1858, the watchword of 
Christ's army seemed to be the message of one of 
her fallen heroes, the Rev. Dudley A. Tyng, who, 
when suddenly, in the vigor of early manhood, was 
stretched out upon a death-bed, said, as his parting words 
to his brethren, "Stand up for Jesus." Under their in- 
spiration the Rev. George Duffield composed the popular 
hymn : — 

"Stand up! stand up for Jesus," 
to be sung after his sermon on the Sabbath morning fol- 
lowing the sudden death of Mr. Tyng in the spring of 1858. 

Shortly before his departure he delivered a memorable 
sermon in Jayne's Hall, Philadelphia, on the text, " Ye 
that are men now serve Him, " in which the slain of the 
Lord were many. 

Mr. Duffield has embraced these words in quotation 

marks in the verse : — 

• 

M Stand up ! stand up for Jesus ! 

The trumpet call obey. " 
Forth to the mighty conflict 

In this his glorious day: 
4 Ye that are men, now serve him' 

Against unnumbered foes; 
Your courage rise with danger, 

And strength to strength oppese." 

During- our meetings in the Union Tabernacle at 
Quakertown, in the fall of that year, we sang and often 
referred to those words. One morning the parents of a 
little girl were awakened by the repeated call of their 
little girl in the cradle, whose pleading voice kept saying, 
"Papa! mama! Pa-pa! ma-ma! Mis-ser Long say 'Tan 
up — tan up for Y-e-s-u-s. " 

This little stammering voice went so deep down in the 
hearts of the parents that in the evening of the same day 



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Duffield's hymn illustrated. 



149 



they did "Stand up for Jesus/' and after soliciting an 
interest in the prayers of God's people, became at length 
earnest and decided soldiers of the cross. 

A gentleman gave a card to a little girl, one day, in 
a railroad car. Supposing that she could not read, he 
said: " This card says/ Stand up for Jesus."' "Does it?" 
said she. And as if acting under heavenly impulses, she 
went along the row of seats, saying to each one, "Stand 
up for Jesus ! Stand up for Jesus ! " When she got down 
one side, she turned around, and coming up the other 
side, repeated the same words, " Stand up for Jesus ! Stand 
up for Jesus!" The unusual sound of such words, in 
such a place, and their frequent repetition, produced a 
deep impression on many. Her mother leaned over and 
wept as a child, and thereby was induced to seek the 
pardon of her sins. Two weeks later, she united with 
the church, and afterward did " Stand up for Jesus." 

Another little one took a noble stand for Jesus, in the 
overflowings of her heart. A man, given to profanity, 
called at her father's house, one "day, and in his conver- 
sation, dropped an oath. It fell like a hot coal of fire 
upon the tender conscience of the child, and so she burst 
out crying, as if severely hurt, and left the room. When 
the cause was inquired into, she sobbed out, "He cursed 
my Jesus." When the swearer heard the reproof, it 
pierced his heart, and was the means of his reformation. 

Some commentators say that the verse in Exodus, XVII. 
9, should be translated to read, "To-morrow I will take 
my stand on the top of the hill, and the staff of God in 
my hand." 

Would that on all the hilltops of Zion, there were 
Moseses who would unfurl the banner of the cross, and 
take a stand for Jesus. 

11 Stand up, stand up for Jesus, 
Ye soldiers of the cross."' 




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150 



Timothy DiclgJtt. 



C 



Author of "Hove Thy kingdom, Lord." 

fHIS hymn was issued in 1800 by Timothy D wight, 
D. D.. who was also the author of another hymn : — 

"While life prolongs its precious light, 
Mercy is found and peace is given. " 

He was born in Massachusetts in 1752. His father 
was a merchant, his mother a daughter of the celebrated 
Jonathan Edwards. She began in early infancy to en- 
lighten his conscience and make him afraid of sin. 
These impressions became permanent. Such was his 
eagerness and capacity, that he learned the alphabet at a 
single lesson, and already "at the age of four could read 
the Bible with ease and correctness. " 

At eight he was so far advanced in his studies that he 
would have been ready for admission into Yale college, 
and when he actually did enter at thirteen, he was already 
master of history, geography and the classics. At sev- 
enteen he graduated. Devoting fourteen hours daily to 
close study, his sight was irreparably impaired, and he 
was compelled to employ an amanuensis. At nineteen he 
was appointed tutor. 

At twenty he issued a work on the " History, Eloquence, 
and Poetry of the Bible, " which procured him great 
honor. In 1777 he was chosen chaplain of the army, 
and in 1795, President of Yale college. In 1809 he 
issued his " Th,eology" in five volumes. After the severe 
studies of the day he would write poetry at night. Well 
could he say of the church: — 

" For her my tears shall fall ; 
For her my prayers ascend ; 
To her my cares and toils be given, 
Till toils and cares shall end. " 

He expired in 1817, saying of some Bible promises 
that were being read to him, " O what triumphant truths !" 



i) 




ret: timothy d wight, s.t.d.ul.d. 

PHESITJE^T OT TALE COLLEGE 
FROM !7ir)5 TO 1817'. 



Dwight's hymn illustrated. 



1 ^Q 



Singing in a Forsaken Church. 

tN the " Holland Purchase " a log church was built 
by Methodist pioneers. It flourished well for years, 
but eventually some of the old members died, and 
others moved away, till only one was left, when preach- 
ing also ceased. 

This mother in Israel sighed over the desolations in 
Zion. She loved the old forsaken sanctuary, and still kept 
going there on the Sabbath to worship God and plead 
the promises. 

At length ft was noised abroad that she was a witch, 
that the old church was haunted with evil spirits, and 
that she went there to commune with them. 

Two young men to satisfy their curiosity, secreted 
themselves in the loft to watch her. On her arrival she 
took her seat by the altar. After reading the Scriptures, 
she announced the hymn, 

" Jesus, I my cross have taker^ " 
and sang it with a sweet but trembling voice, then 
kneeled down and poured out her heart in fervent 
prayer and supplication. 

She recounted the happy seasons of the past, plead 
for a revival, and for the many who had forgotten Zion. 

Her pleadings broke the hearts of the young men. 
They began to weep and cry for mercy. 

As the Saviour called Zaccheus to come down, so did 
she invite them down from their hiding-place. 

They obeyed, and there at the altar, where in other 
days she had seen many conversions, they too knelt, con- 
fessed their sins, sought and found the Saviour. 

From that hour the work of God revived, the meet- 
ings were resumed, a flourishing church grew up, and 
the old meeting house was made to resound with the 
happy voices of God's children. Dr. Strickland. 




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154 



Dwighfs hymn illustrated. 




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Singing heard in the Wilderness- 

fljj NE hundred years ago Georgia was a wild wilderness. 
^ Preaching places were "few and far between." In 
one of the settlements, six miles distant from each 
other, lived two pious women. 

They felt lost when moving there, away from their 
accustomed places of worship in Maryland, and especial- 
ly as the people in these settlements spent their Sundays 
in frolicking and hunting. 

These two women agreed to meet half way between 
their homes, and hold a prayer-meeting by them- 
selves. Sabbath after Sabbath they walked to their ap- 
pointment, and there in the depth of that southern for- 
est engaged in prayer and praise. 

The singing, echoing through the wild woods, attract- 
ed the attention of a hunter. 

As he drew near to a hiding place, he was overwhelm- 
ed by what he heard. Sabbath after Sabbath he would 
hide near enough to hear, till, at the close of one of their 
meetings, he could not conceal himself or his feelings any 
longer. He then invited them to meet at his cabin the 
next Sabbath, promising to collect in his neighbors. 

The call seemed providential. They accepted it. It was 
soon noised abroad. The whole neighborhood turned out. 
Their husbands went along to see these strange women. 
When lo ! their own wives took charge of the meeting. 
The Holy Spirit moved and melted first, the heart of the 
hunter, then of the two husbands. They broke out in 
cries of mercy. The meeting continued night and day 
for some two weeks. A fter some forty were converted, 
Rev. B. Maxey heard of it. He took charge of the re- 
vival which continued to spread over a vast region of 
country, till many churches sprang up where preach- 
ing had never been heard before. 




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Dwight's hymn illustrated. 



1.55 



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A Prisoner Singing Himself into Liberty. 

ft) HIS was the case with Deacon Epa Norris during 
C§) the war between Great Britain and the United 
States, in 1812. He lived in the Northern Neck, Va. 
Being captured and taken to a British vessel, they in 
vain sought to obtain from him the position and num- 
bers of the American Army. 

Dr. Belcher says : " The commandant of the ship gave 
a dinner to the officers of the fleet, and did Mr. Norris 
the honor to select him from the American prisoners of 
war to be a guest. The deacon, in his homespun attire, 
took his seat at the table with the aristocracy of the 
British navy. The company sat long at the feast: they 
drank toasts, told stories, laughed and sang songs. At 
length Mr. Norris was called on for a song. He de- 
sired to excuse himself, but in vain : he must sing. He 
possessed a fine, strong, musical voice. In an ap- 
propriate and beautiful air, he commenced singing: — 

" ' Sweet is the work, my God, my King, 

To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing. ' 

" Thoughts of home and of lost religious privileges, 

and of his captivity, imparted an unusual pathos and 

power to his singing. One stanza of the excellent psalm 

must have seemed peculiarly pertinent to the occasion : — 

" ' Fools never raise their thoughts so high : 
Like brutes they live, like brutes they dia ; 
Like grass they flourish, till thy breath 
Blast them in everlasting death. ' 

""When the singing ceased, a solemn silence ensued. 
At length the commandant broke it by saying : ' Mr. 
Norris, you are a good man, and shall return immedi- 
ately to your family. ' The commodore kept his word ; 
for in a few days Mr. Norris was sent ashore in a barge, 
with a handsome present of salt, — then more valuable 
in the country than gold. 



•>■> 



156 



Charlotte Elliott. 




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Author of " Just as I am, without one plea. " 

§HIS world-renowned hymn, issued in 1836 by 
Charlotte Elliott, is spoken of as " the divinest of 
heart-utterances in song that modern times have 
bestowed upon us. " It is one of those hymns that are 
suited to all ages, characters, and conditions in life. 

Mr. Saunders says: "The plaintive melody of the re- 
frain cannot but awaken a responsive echo in every 
devout soul, as the sad notes of some lone bird are 
caught up and repeated amid the stillness of the silvan 
solitude. " 

Rev. R. S. Cook, of New York, sent to Miss Elliott 
a companion and counterpart to her hymn, commencing: 
"Just as thou art, without one trace." 

Miss Elliott is grand-daughter of the Rev. John Venn, 
and sister of Rev. E. B. Elliott, author of the "Horae 
Apocalypticse, " and of Rev. Henry Venn Elliott, 
himself a writer of hymns. 

Mr. Miller says (1869) "that she formerly resided at 
Torquay, where the neighborhood was greatly benefited 
by her piety and benefactions, and is now residing at 
an advanced age and infirm health at Brighton." 

She is represented as "a lover of nature, a lover of 
souls, and a lover of Christ. " 

Her heart and pen are kept so busy with writing for 
her Master, that it is said that even in her old age, she 
seldom appears at the breakfast table without more or 
less of poetical composition in manuscript. 

She has issued the following publications: In 1842, 
"Morning and Evening Hymns for a Week, by a Lady ; 
in 1836, "Hours of Sorrow Cheered and Comforted;" 
in 1863, "Poems by E. C. ;" yearly she has issued 
"The Christian Remembrance;" besides contributing 
one hundred hymns to the Invalids' Hymn-Book. 




CHARLOTTE ELLTOTT. 



Charlotte Elliott continued. 



159 



"Just as I am" was an epitome of Miss Elliott's ex- 
perience. Her sister says that in 1821 "she became 
deeply conscious of the evil in her own heart, and hav- 
ing not yet fully realized the fulness and freeness of the 
grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, she suffered much 
mental distress under the painful uncertainty whether 
it were possible that such a one as she felt herself to be 
could be saved/' 

After groping her way through darkness for a year, 
Dr. Malan of Geneva paid her a visit at her father's 
house on the ninth of May, 1822. Seeing how she was 
held back from the Saviour by her own self-saving efforts, 
he said : " Dear Charlotte, cut the cable, it will take too 
long to unloose it; cut it, it is a small loss," and then 
bidding her give "one look, silent but continuous at the 
cross of Jesus," she was enabled at once freely to say; — 

"Just as I am — without one plea 
But that thy blood was shed for me, 
And that thou bid'st me come to thee, 
Lamb of God, I come ! " 

"From that time," says her sister, "for forty 
years his constant correspondence was justly esteemed the 
greatest blessing of her life. The anniversary of that 
memorable date was always kept as a festal day ; and on 
that day, so long as Dr. Malan lived, commemorative 
letters passed from the one to the other, as upon the birth- 
day of her soul to true spiritual life and peace. " Dr. 
Malan as a skilful spiritual physician had carefully probed 
the wound, and led her to the true remedy for all her 
anxiety, — namely, simple faith in God's own word. It 
was thus from her own experience she could write: — 

" Just as I am — thou wilt receive, 
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve ; 
Because thy promise I believe, 
Lamb of God, I come ! " 




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^3 



160 



Charlotte Elliott's hymn continued. 



C 



"From that ever memorable clay," it is said her "spir- 
itual horizon was for the most part cloudless," until, in 
the bright vision that attended her dying moments, she 
could say in the language of her last verse; — 

" Just as I am — of that free love, 

The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove, 
Here, for a season, then above, 
Lamb of God, I come." 

Clamly she closed her eyes in death, September 22, 1871. 

POOR little boy once came to a New York city 
^p missionary, and holding up a dirty and worn-out 

bit of printed paper, said, " Please, sir, father pent me 
to get a clean paper like that." Taking it from his 
hand, the missionary unfolded it, and found that it was 
a page containing the precious hymn : — 

" Just as I am — without one plea." 

He looked down with deep interest into the face so 
earnestly upturned towards him, and asked the little 
boy where he got it, and why he wanted a clean 
one. "We found it, sir," said he, "in sister's pocket, 
after she died, and she used to sing it all the time she 
was sick, and she loved it so much that father wanted 
to get a clean one, and put it in a frame to hang it up. 
Wont you please to give us a clean one, sir?" 

The son-in-law of the poet Wordsworth sent to Miss 
Elliott a letter, telling of the great comfort afforded his 
wife when on her dying bed, by the hymn. Said he, when 
" I first read it, I had no sooner finished than she said 
very earnestly, 'that is the very thing for me.' At least 
ten times that day she asked me to repeat it, and every 
morning from that day till her decease, nearly two months 
later, the first thing she asked me for was her hymn. 

"Now my hymn," she would say — and she would of- 
ten repeat it after me, line for line, in the day and night." 



Miss Elliott's hymn. 



161 



" Sir ! I've come, I've come. " 




(fcHE Rev. Dr. McCook, while in his pastorate at St. 
(^p Louis, was sent for to see a young lady who was dy- 
ing of consumption. He soon found that she had 
imbibed infidelity through the influence of her teacher 
in the Normal School, and with her keen intellect was 
enabled to ward off all the claims of the gospel. 

After exhausting all the arguments he could think of 
during his visits, he was exceedingly puzzled to know 
what more to do, as she seemed unshaken in her doubts. 
She at length seemed so averse to the subject of religion 
that when calling one day, she turned her face to the wall 
and seemed to take no notice of him. Mr. McCook said : 
" Lucy, I have not called to argue with you another word, 
but before leaving you to meet the issues of eternity I 
wish to recite a hymn. n He then repeated with much 
emphasis the hymn : — 

" Just as I am, without one plea, n 
and then bade her adieu. She made no response. He 
was debating for some time whether, after so much re- 
pugnance, he should call again. But realizing her near- 
ness to the eternal world he concluded to make one 
more visit. Taking his seat by her bedside she slowly 
turned around in bed. Her sunken eyes shone with un- 
wonted lustre, as she placed her thin, emaciated hands in 
his and said slowly, and with much emotion : — 

"'Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that thy blood -was shed for me, 
And that thou bidst me come to thee, 
Lamb of God, I come, I come. ' 

"O Sir! I've come. I've come." That hymn told 
the story. It had decided her eternal destiny. It had 
done what all the logical arguments had failed to do. 

She soon afterwards peacefully crossed the river. 



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162 



Miss Elliott's hymn, continued. 




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"Just as I am" Uttered with a Dying Breath. 

t ESSIE, a young lady of eighteen, whose home is in 
Vermont, while attending seminary was taken very 
ill. It seemed only a slight illness, but to the sur- 
prise of all, when the doctor was summoned, he said : 
" You can have but a few hours to live. " A correspond- 
ent says: "Not one who was present will forget that look 
of awe and terror that covered Jessie's face. ' pray 
for me,' was her agonized request of all her friends. To 
her schoolmates she sent the message, 'Tell them to be 
Christians, for they know not at what moment they may 
be surprised as I have been.' She then began to say: — 

" 'Just as I am, without one plea, 

But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, 
Lamb of God, I come. ' 

"The second verse was begun in a faint whisper: — 

" 'Just as T am, and waiting not, 

To rid my soul of one dark blot, 
To Thee—"' 

With the word, ' Thee' upon her lips, she breathed her 
last breath and passed away to the spirit-land." 

tAR out on the Western prairies dwelt a father who 
had not been to church for fifteen years. After death 
laid some of his family in the grave, God's "still small 
voice" came to him. "All alone," said he, "out there 
on the prairie, with no religious teacher, no Christian 
friend, God spoke to me. I then gladly went to hear a 
missionary preach in a school-house. Was this salvation 
for me? Could I, so long a wanderer, come and be for- 
given? While agitated with these thoughts, they sang: 

" 'Just as I am, without one plea. ' 
It told my story, and before it was ended, I could say: — 
"'0 Lamb of God, 1 come.'" 



W 



Miss Elliotts hymn continued. 



163 



"To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot.'' 




MISSIONARY in his travels, found a heathen 
expiring 1 by the wayside. Inquiring of his hopes 
for the life to come, the dying man whispered: "The 
blood ot Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin ;" and with 
this utterance he breathed his last breath. The mission- 
ary, perceiving a bit of paper in his closed hand, took it 
from his grasp, when, to his great joy, he found it to be 
a leaf of the Bible, containing the First chapter of 1st 
John, on which was printed the text that gave him his 
hold on eternal life. Ascending thus to the skies, he 
could truthfully say, in the language of Miss Elliott's 
hymn: — 

"To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
Lamb of God, I come." 



fNE day, a dying girl, twelve years old, rousing from 
her slumbers, said : " Aunty, how do you know you 
are a Christian?" To which the answer was given: 
"Darling, we love Jesus, and try to do what he tells us. 
Do you want to be a Christian?" "Oh, ;-es aunty!" 
The lines of the hymn were then quoted: — 

"Just as I am, without one plea. 

But that thy blood was shed for me, 
And that thou bidst me come to thee, 
Lamb of God, I come 1 I come ! " etc. 

when she continued, "Oh, aunty, isn't that lovely?" 
During the convulsions that followed, and closed her 
earthly career, she could be heard saying: "Abba, Father, 
Thou knowest that I love thee. Aunty will teach me." 
When her baby brother was brought in to see her 
in her coffin, he truthfully said: "tatie seepin." 
This seemed to the weeping parents but the echo of the 
Master's words: "She is not dead, but sleepeth." 



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164 



Charlotte Elliott's hymn. 




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*5- 



The Young Chorister's Last Hymn. 



((EVERYBODY knew Claude Davenel was dvino; • he 
vg knew it himself, and his mother knew it as she sat 
there watching him. All the villagers knew it, and 
many an eye was wet as the name of little Claude was 
whispered among them. 

Claude had taken his illness on a chilly autumn even- 
ing, when the choir was practising in church. One of 
his companions, Willie Dalton, complained of a sore 
throat, so that he could not sing, and he sat down cold 
and sick in his own place. Claude took off his comfort- 
er and wrapped it around his friend's neck, and when the 
practising was over he ran home with him, and then put 
on his comforter again as he went back to his own home. 

Willie was sickening for the scarlet fever, and poor 
Claude caught it too. Willie recovered ; but Claude had 
taken the disease in its worst form, and though the fever 
had left him, he had never been able to recover his 
strength, and he had grown weaker and wasted away. 

And so it was on this calm Sunday evening. He had 
been drawn up close to the window, to listen to the 
church bells slowly ringing out and calling people in. 

The bell stopped, and Claude's eyes grew more wistful 
as the sound of the organ fell upon his ear. That stopped 
too, and then all was still. He closed his eyes until he 
heard it again ; and then he opened them, listening in- 
tentl y. 

"They are coming out now, mother," he said, after a 
minute's pause. " Lift me up a little, mother dear ; I 
want to see them. I can hear the boys' foot steps on the 
gravel — lift me up a little higher, mother — they are com- 
ing this way. I can't see them, but I can hear them — 
they are coming down our street. Mother, put your 
hand out, and wave my handkerchief to them. " 




W 



Miss Elliott 1 s hymn continued. 



1G5 



The trampling of feet had stopped under his window, 
and there was a low murmur of voices. Another mo- 
ment and there was a gentle tap at the door, and Willie 
Dalton slipped in. 

" Mrs. Davenel, we want to sing to Claude. " 

The question had been whispered, but Claude heard 
and caught at it eagerly. 

"Oh, do! do! Mother, let me hear them — -just once 
more. " 

The poor mother nodded her head sadly. 

"It can't hurt him, Willie, and he likes it." 

The boy cast a loving glance upon his friend, and then 
went quietly out of the room. 

There were a few minutes of silence below, and then 
the choir-boys sang Claude's favorite hymn : — 

u My God, my Father, while I stray 
Far from my home in life's rough way, 
Oh, teach me from mv heart to say, 
« Thy will be done ! ' " 

He clasped his hands together and gently .began to join 
in when they sang the fourth verse : — 

11 If thou should'st call me to resign 
What most I prize, it ne'er was mine, 
I only yield Thee what is Thine: 

'Thy will be done!'"' 

When the hymn was ended his mother bent down 
over her son. His head had fallen back upon the pillow 
and the color had fled from his cheeks. 

"Mother," he said, "write ' Thy will be done' over 
my grave when I am gone. " 

So the little chorister died. He is buried in a spot 
near the path to the choir vestry; and till those choir- 
boys had given place to others, they used to sing each 
year the same hymn, at Claude Davenel 's grave, on the 
evening of the day on which he died. Children's Prize. 




C 



16ii 



John Fawcett. 



Fawcett and his Hymns. 

^LTHOUGII Whitefield did not perpetuate his in- 
<eP fluence through the composition of any hymns, yet 
lie was the means of the conversion of some hymn- 
writers, who are, after the march of a century, still 
shaping the eternal destiny of precious souls. Who can 
measure the circle of influence that has widened out 
through the singing of that oft-repeated hymn : — 
"Come, thou Fount of every blessing!'' 

Its author, Robert Robinson, was among the thousands 
of Whitefield's converts. So was also the Rev. John 
Fawcett, D. D. Both, when lads of about sixteen years 
of age, were drawn into the stream of salvation by the tide 
of Whitefield's popularity. 

Fawcett was born at Lidget Green, England, January 
6, 1739. His father having died when he was twelve 
years of age, he was apprenticed for six years at Bradford. 

While at this place he was tempted to follow the crowds 
that everywhere surrounded the eloquent Whitefield. 

The sermon, that was made effective to his conversion, 
was from the words, " And as Moses lifted up the ser- 
pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be 
lifted up." "As long as life remains/' he says, "I shall 
remember both the text and the sermon." 

In 1758, he united with the newly-formed Baptist 
church at Bradford. After using his talents in exhor- 
tation for some time, he was urged by the church to pre- 
pare for the regular work of the ministry. To this advice 
he yielded. In May, 1765, he was ordained as pastor 
of the Baptist church at Wainsgate. Two years later, 
he issued his " Poetic Essays," and in 1782, he gathered 
together his hymns, one hundred and sixty-six in num- 
ber, in a volume, entitled, " Hymns adapted to the 
circumstances of Public Worship and Private Devotion." 



c: 



w 




JOHN FAWCETT. 



Fawcett continued. 



169 



ms"" 



In 1788, he published an invaluable little volume on 
"Anger." George III. having been presented with a 
copy, was so much pleased, that he sent word to the 
author, that he would confer any favor upon him that 
he might desire. Fawcett, however, modestly declined 
availing himself of the royal munificence. 

iSome time afterwards, however, the son of one of his 
most intimate friends committed forgery in an unguarded 
moment, and was sentenced to death. Fawcett interceded 
on his behalf, the king remembered his former offer, and 
granted the pardon. The young man afterwards became 
a devoted Christian, and was thus saved for time and 
eternity. 

Fawcett often said, "If the Lord has given to man 
the ability to raise such melodious sounds and voices on 
earth, what delightful harmony will there be in heaven?" 

One of his sweet hymns is entitled, "Praise on Earth 
and in Heaven," of which the first and fourth stanzas, 
are, 

" Joyfully on earth adore him 

Till in heaven our song we raise; 
There enraptured fall before him, 
Lost in wonder, love, and praise. 

"Praise to thee, thou great Creator, 
Praise be thine from every tongue; 
Join, my sonl, with every creature, 
Join the universal song." 

"Among his other hymns that are still frequently 
sung, we may mention those commencing, 

"Religion is the chief concern 
Of mortals here below." 

"Sinners, the voice of God regard." 

"Thy presence, gracious God, affords." 

"How precious is the book divine." 

"Thy way, God, is in the sea." 




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170 



Origin of — Blest be the tie that binds. 



" Blest be the Tie that Binds." 



r 



§HIS sweet hymn was written by Rev. John Fawcett 
D. T>. in 1772. The following are given as the inter- 
esting facts that occasioned it. 

After he had been a few years in the ministry, his fam- 
ily increasing far more rapidly than his income > he thought 
it was his duty to accept a call to settle as pastor of a 
Baptist church in London, to succeed the celebrated Dr. 
Gill. He preached his farewell sermon to his church in 
Yorkshire, and loaded six or seven wagons with his fur- 
niture, books, etc., to be carried to his new residence. 
All this time the members of his poor church were almost 
broken hearted, fervently did they pray that even now 
he might not leave them ; and, as the time for departure 
arrived, men, women, and children clung around him 
and his family in perfect agony of soul. 

The last wagon was being loaded, when the good man 
and his wife sat down on one of his packing-cases to weep. 
Looking into his tearful face, while tears like rain fell 
down her own cheeks, his devoted wife said, " Oh, John, 
John, I cannot bear this ! I know not how to go ! r " Nor 
I, either, " said the good man ; " nor will we go. Unload 
the wagons and put everything in the place where it was 
before." The people cried for joy. A letter was sent to 
the church in London to tell them that his coming to 
them was impossible; and the good man buckled on his 
armor for renewed labors on a salary of less than three 
hundred dollars a year. 

He then took his pen and wrote the words, 

' c Blest be the tie that binds 
Our hearts in Christian love, " 

as expressive of the golden bond of union that knit pas- 
tor and people so closely and tenderly together. 

Dr^ Belcher. 



1/ 



Faiccetfs hymn illustrated. 



171 



•<sf 



Singing of " Blest be the tie that binds." 

ANY liave been the occasions when this hymn has 
just suited to give expression to the outgushings of 
that brotherly affection that unites the hearts of 
God's dear children. It was sung with great emphasis 
and significance at the reunion of the Old and New 
School divisions of the Presbyterian Church, in 1859. 
The two bodies having met in two churches, at Pittsburg, 
Pa., they afterwards formed on opposite sides of the street, 
and then moved along one block, when a halt was made. 
The two moderators, who headed their respective columns, 
then approached and grasped each other's hands, which 
example was followed by the two opposite ranks, until 
"amidst welcomes, thanksgivings, and tears, they locked 
arms," and thus marched, as one united host, to the 
temple of God, where they sang: — 

" All hail the power of Jesus' name," 
and then blended their voices in the grand old doxology : — 

" Praise God, from whom all blessings flow." 

The tide of feeling gradually rose till it reached its 
culmination, when Dr. Fowler, the moderator of the New 
School body, turned to Dr. Jacobus, the moderator of the 
Old School body, saying: "My dear brother moderator, 
may we not, before I take my seat, perform a single act, 
symbolical of the union which has taken place between 
the two branches of the church. Let us clasp hands." 
This challenge was immediately responded to, " amid pro- 
longed and deafening applause." After which, the thou- 
sands present, amid flowing tears and swelling hearts, 
joined in singing: — 

"Blest be the tie that binds, 
Our hearts in Christian love; 
The fellowship of kindred minds, 
Is like to that above." 



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w 



172 



Origin of Gerhard? s hymn. 



A Sweet Hymn Born In Sorrow. 



|AUL Gerhardt was born in Saxony, in the year 
1606. He is the author of many choice hymns. 
It was in a dark day he wrote the hymn — 

" Give to the winds thy fears, 
Hope and be undismayed. — " 

On account of some conflict with the king in his re- 
ligious sentiments, he was ordered to leave the Nicholas 
church at Berlin, where he had preached for ten years, 
and quit the country. With his helpless wife and little 
ones he turned his steps towards Saxony, his native land. 

The journey, taken on foot, was long and weary. 
As they turned aside to spend the night in a little village 
inn, his wife, overcome with sorrow, gave way to tears of 
anguish. Gerhardt, concealing his own sadness, quoted 
the beautiful promise — " Trust in the Lord ; in all thy 
ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. " 

His own mind was so impressed by these words, that 
he turned aside and composed this hymn. 

Late that evening, as Gerhardt and his wife sat in the 
little parlor, two gentlemen came in, and after some gen- 
eral conversation, said they were going to Berlin to Ger- 
hardt, the deposed minister. Madam Gerhardt turned 
pale with alarm, fearing some new calamity. Her hus- 
band, however, with entire self-possession, told the 
strangers that he was the man. One of the gentlemen 
then gave him a letter from Duke Christian, of Meres- 
burg, informing him that in view of his unjust deposition 
from the church in Berlin, he had settled a pension on 
him. Gerhardt in the joy of that moment, quietly turn- 
ed to his wife and gave her the hymn he had composed 
in the early part of the evening, when all was so dark 
and seemingly hopeless. " See, " said Gerhardt, as he 
handed his wifo the hymn, " see how God provides ! ,: 




r 




PAUL GERHARDT. 



Gcrhardfs hymns. 



175 



C 



The hymn, which, according to tradition, had this in- 
teresting origin, was first published in 1659.* It was 
one, among many others, which was translated by 
John Wesley. In German, it commences, "Befiehl du 
deine Wege," and consists of twelve stanzas of eight lines 
each. It is now so arranged as to form two hymns. One, 

11 Commit thou all thy griefs 
And ways into his hands, 
To his sure truth and tender care, 
Who earth and heaven commands. 



The other, 



"Who points the clouds their course, 
When wind and seas obey, 
He shall direct thy wandering feet, 
He shall prepare thy way." &c. 



11 Give to the winds thy fears ; 
Hope, and be undismayed : 
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears ; 
God shall lift up thy head. 

"Through waves and clouds and storms, 
He gently clears thy way ; 
Wait thou his time, so shall this night 
Soon end in joyous day." &c. 

June, 1676, Gerhard t reached his three score years and 
ten, and also the end of life's journey. After uttering 
some sw r eet final words, parting with his only son on 
the banks of the river, he cheered and comforted himself 
in his dying moments, by repeating, over and over again, 
the eighth verse of his hymn, " Wherefore should I grieve 
and pine;" and while the words were still lingering upon 
his lips, he breathed his last. The words were these ; of the 
Christian he says : — 

" Him no 
Death has power to kill, 
But, from many a dreaded ill 

Bears his spirit safe away, 
Shuts the door of bitter woes, 
Opens yon bright path that glows 

With the light of perfect day." 



1 



* The discrepancy of dates makes this tradition doubtful. 



176 



Gerhardt continued. 




c: 



His devoted wife had preceded him, in 1668, and by 
her own request, one of her husband's hymns was read to 
her as she entered the dark valley. Gerhardt wrote one 
hundred and twenty-three hymns and ranks next to 
Lu flier, in the grandeur and force of his sacred poetry. 
He is described as a man of medium height, of quiet but 
firm and cheerful bearing. His portrait in the Lubben 
Church bears, in Latin, this inscription: U A divine 
sifted in Satan's sieve." 

Among his best hymns that are now in use in the 
English language, we may mention the following, com- 
mencing, 

" sacred head, once wounded," 
"Jesus, thy boundless love to me," 
" Holy Ghost! dispel our sadness." 

One of his heroic songs found in many hymn books begins, 

"Since Jesus is my Friend, 
And I to him belong, 
It matters not what foes intend, 
However fierce and strong. 

11 He whispers in my breast 

Sweet words of holy cheer, — 
How they who seek in God their rest, 
Shall ever find him near." 



IFFERE NT writers corroborate the following touch- 
ing story connected with one of Gerhardt's hymns: — 
u What a dreadful day was the 14th of September, 
1796, for the small Hessian town of Lisberg, built on 
the wooded heights of the Vogelberg. Between nine 
and ten o'clock at night, five hundred fugitives of the 
French army, which had just been defeated by the Arch- 
duke Charles, fled through the city, breathing vengeance; 
and after they had destroyed, murdered, and plundered 
for many hours, they set fire to the town at all points, 
so that fifty-eight dwellings were burned to the ground. 




1 



Gerhard? s hymn. 



177 



u On the slope of the hill stood a cottage, where a 

mother sat at the bed of her sick child. From fear of 

endangering the life of her darling, she would not, in the 

cold September day, flee with it to the woods, as most of 

the inhabitants had done. But now, when the firing and 

murdering began in the place, and the smoke of the 

burning houses came down from the hill into the valley, 

then the poor lone woman was fearful unto death; she 

bolted the door of the cottage, and threw herself on her 

knees in prayer beside the cradle of her child. Thus 

she remained a long time, trembling as she listened to 

the shouts of the soldiers and the shrieks of the victims ; 

at last her door was struck by the butt-end of a musket; 

and it quickly flew open, and a Frenchman rushed in, 

pointing his bayonet at the horrified woman. The 

mother laid her hands over her child, and with a voice 

of despair she piayed aloud the verse of Gerhardt's 

hymn : — 

" 'My Jesus, stay thou by me, 
And let no foe come nigh me, 
Safe sheltered by thy wing ; 
But should the foe alarm me, 
Oh! let him never harm me, 

But still thine angels round me sing.' 

Suddenly the soldier lowered his deadly weapon, stepped 
to the cradle, and laid his rough hand softly on the child's 
head, his lips moved as if in prayer, and tear-drops fell 
over his bearded face. Then he gave his hand to the 
mother and went away in silence. After some time, she 
arose from her knees, and looked out of the little window, 
and behold ! there stood the Frenchman, his musket on 
his arm. He had made himself the sentinel to protect 
the house and its inmates from all insult or harm. At 
last, when the whole troop, laden with booty, marched 
off. he left his post, with a greater treasure in his heart 
than his comrades had in their sacks." 




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178 



Paul GerhartWs hymn. 




Relief Brought while Singing. 

EAR Warsaw, there once lived a pious peasant of 
German extraction, by name Dobry. Without 
any fault of his own, he had fallen into arrears 
with his rent ; and the landlord determined to turn him 
out ; and it was winter. He went to him three times 
and besought him in vain. It was evening, and the next 
day he was to be turned out with all his family; when, 
as they sat there in their sorrow, Dobry kneeled down 
in their midst, and sang. 

u ' Commit thou all thy griefs 
And ways into His hands. ' 

And as they came to the last verse, 

" ' When Thou wouldst all our need supply, 
Who shall stay Thy hand ? ' 

there was a knock at the window. It was an old friend, 
a raven, that Dobry 's grandfather had taken out of the 
nest, and tamed, and then set at liberty. Dobry opened 
the window: the raven hopped in, and in his bill was a 
ring set with precious stones. Dobry thought he would 
sell the ring : but he thought again that he would take 
and show it to his minister; and he, who saw at once 
by the crest that it belonged to King Stanislaus, took it 
to him, and related the story. The king sent for Dobry, 
and rewarded him, so that he was no more in need, and 
the next year built him a house, and gave him cattle from 
his own herd; and over the house-door there is an iron 
tablet, whereon is carved a raven with a ring in his beak, 
and underneath this verse: — 

" ' Thou everywhere hast sway, 

And all things serve thy might : 
Thy every act pure blessing is ; 
Thy path, unsullied light!'" 




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Boyhood experience of E. 31. Long. 



179 



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" Commit thou all thy griefs."' 

§HIS hymn is expressive of the experience of the author. 
When a boy, I gave my heart to Jesus and felt called 
to become a minister. On the evening of the day of 
my conversion I told mother. Her tears of sympathy 
were all the help she could give. So we agreed to tell 
Jesus about the matter and then leave it in his hands. 
Staying with a friend, who lived twelve miles from coll- 
ege the call seem 3d to ring so loudly that I was unable 
to sleep one Saturday night. Before daylight I arose 
and, without money or friends, started off for college. 

Through the rain and mud I tramped the hilly road 
cheered with the constant thought that Jesus was with 
me, and would care for me in some way. 

It was church time when my weary feet reached their 
destination. Not knowing where to go, or what to do, I 
walked up and down the streets of the strange town till 
I met a man that I thought looked like a Christian. I 
told him my story. He took me along to church. An 
aged minister arose and read as his text, "Casting all 
your care upon Him, for He careth for you." The 
text and sermon seemed all for me, I wondered who had 
told the preacher about me. Standing outside the church 
door, I watched for the Lord to send some one to care 
forme. I did not wait long until a Christian man came 
out to whom I told my story — how my heart was bur- 
dened with the desire to become a preacher, and how I 
had walked the long road trusting for relief through 
some kind .providence. He at once extended a helping 
hand. Took me the next day to a banker, who said 
u Come on, I'll see you through ;" with nimble feet I 
hastened home to fcel I my mother the good news. And 
before that week was around, I was at the preparatory 
school connected with the college, preparing to preach. 




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180 



Joseph Grigg, 




A Popular Hymn written by a Boy ten Years Old. 

§FIE well-known hymn found in nearly all the church 
hymn-books commencing, — 

11 Jesus, and shall it ever be," 

was written by Joseph Grigg when but a child. It had 
for its heading when first published: "Shame of Jesus 
conquered by love, by a youth of ten years." It first ap- 
peared in the " Gospel Magazine " for April, 1774. The 
Rev. Benjamin Francis afterwards re-wrote the hymn for 
Rippon's Selection. This is the form in which it is now 
used. Originally the first verse read: — 

" Jesus, and shall it ever be 
v A mortal man ashamed of Thte? 

Scorned be the thought by rich and poor, 
Oh, may I scorn it more and more." 

In early life Mr. Grigg labored as a mechanic, and 
issued, when a young man, a pamphlet containing nineteen 
hymns written while at work. 

He at length became a minister, and preached in Sil- 
ver Street, London, and married a widow lady of con- 
siderable wealth. He was " a friend of the poor, the charm 
of the social circle, and an attractive and useful preacher." 

After a fruitful life he died, in 1 768, at Walthamstow 
near London. 

In 1765, he sent forth, in tract form, "Four Hymns 
on Divine Subjects, wherein the Patience and Love of 
Our Divine Saviour is displayed." One of the four was 
the hymn now in such frequent use, beginning, — 

"Behold! a stranger at the door, 

He gently knocks, has knocked before; 
Has waited long, is waiting still: 
You treat no other friend so ill." 

Forty of his hymns with his "Serious Poems " were 
issued in book form, by Mr. Daniel Sedgwick, in 1861. 



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Griggs's hymn. 



181 



" Behold a stranger at the door. " 




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U: HE following poetical illustration of the sentiments 
S> of this hymn was penned by Lopede Vega, who was 
born at Madrid, in 1562. In Evenings with the Sa- 
cred Poets it is said that he read Latin at five years of 
age; and such was his passion for verses, that before he 
could use a pen, he bribed his elder schoolmates with 
a portion of his breakfast, to write to his dictation, and 
then exchanged his effusion with others for prints and 
hymns. 

Thus truly he lisped in numbers; and as he was the 
most prolific ancl voluminous of poets, he kept himself 
diligently exercised in that line to the end of his life. 

li Lord, what am I, that, with unceasing care, 

Thou didst seek after me? that thou didst wait, 
Wet with unhealthy dews, before my gate, 

And pass the gloomy nights of winter there? 
Oh, strange delusion, that I did not greet 

Thy blessed approach ! and oh, to heaven how lost, 
In my ingratitude's unkindly frost, 

Has chilled the bleeding wounds upon Thy feet: 
How oft my guardian angel gently cried, 

' Soul from thy casement look, and thou shalt see 
How He persists to knock and wait for thee. ' 

And oh ! how often to that voice of sorrow, 
1 To-morrow we will open ' I replied ; 

And when to-morrow T came, I answered still, 

[ 'to-morrow. ' " 

3t LITTLE boy had listened very attentively while 
<eP Ills father read at family worship the third chapter 
of Revelation. But when he repeated that beau- 
tiful verse, " Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if 
any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come 
in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me," he 
could not wait until his father had finished, but ran up 
to him with the anxious inquiry : " Pa, did he get in?" 



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182 



Hymn of Gustavus Adolphus. 



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Gustavus' Battle-hymn. 

j^USTAVUS ADOLPHUS, the great and good king 
^f? of Sweden, hearing of the straits into which Protest- 
antism was brought in its struggles against Papacy in 
Germany, marched to the relief of his Christian brethren 
in 1630. With a small but disciplined army he turned 
the tide, and helped to preserve that land in its faith. 

After his victory at Leipzic he wrote down, in a rude 
form, a hymn to be sung by his army, which, as revised 
and arranged by his chaplain, Dr. Fabricus, has thus 
been translated: — 

" Fear not, little flock ! the foe 

Who madly seeks your overthrow. 

Dread not his rage and power! 

What though your courage sometimes faints, 

His seeming triumph o'er God's saints 
Lasts but an hour. " 

"Amen, Lord Jesus grant our prayer: 

Great Captain, now thine arm make bare, — 

Fight for us once again : 

So shall Thy saints and martyrs raise 

A mighty chorus to Thy praise, 
World without end, — Amen. " 

At the commencement of the battle at which the king 
was killed, he commanded this hymn to be sung, accom- 
panied by the trumpets and drums of the whole army. 
Then Gustavus knelt beside his horse in face of the 
soldiers and repeated his usual battle-prayer: "O Lord 
Jesus, bless our armies and this day's battle, for the glo- 
ry of Thy holy name." Then passing along the lines 
giving a few brief words of encouragement, he gave the 
battle cry, Ci God with us. " 

When found wounded on the field of battle, amid a 
heap of dying men, he exultingly cried out, "I am the 
king of Sweden, and seal with my blood the liberty and 
religion of the whole German nation." 



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Toplady's hymn. 



183 



Hymns upon the Battle-field. 

CHRISTIAN soldier, about to die on the battle-field 
during our late war, knelt deep in the mud, and said 
imploringly to the chaplain, "Oh brother! let us 
sing once more before I die." 
"What shall I sing?" 

" Sing the song my mother sung when I was her dar- 
ling boy ; and that always thrilled my soul as no other 
earthly song ever did. Sing, < Rock of Ages,cleft for me.' 
That hymn, more than anything else, led me to the Rock 
Christ Jesus." He expired while the song was yet faintly 
moving on his lips. 

URING the Crimean war a touching account was 
given of a. soldier, who, while on guard as a picket, 
felt so forlorn by being night after night exposed to 
the mud, fog, and rain of the battle-field, that he resolved 
to end his misery by committing suicide. 

While retiring to a secluded spot to execute his pur- 
pose, he heard some one in the dark tramping through 
the mud and rain, cheerfully singing a sweet hymn. As 
he listened he found it came from a Christian whose faith 
enabled him ever to sing amid surrounding gloom: — 

11 Content with beholding His face, 
My all to His pleasure resigned, 
No changes of season or place 

Can make any change in my mind. " 

Well did Luther say of Christian song: — 

" The Devil's work it doth impede, 
And hinders many a deadly deed. 
So fared it with King Saul of old ; 
When David struck his harp of gold, 
So sweet and clear its tones rang out, 
Saul's murderous thoughts were put to rout." 




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184 



Madame, Guyon. 



Madame Guyon and her Hymns. 



322, 



HEN the heavens are overcast at night, sometimes 
the thick clouds will open far enough to let the 
light of some hidden star appear amid the sur- 
rounding gloom. Such a lone star was Madame Guyon, 
shining through the midnight darkness, and among the 
thick clouds of papal error and superstition. 

Jeanne Marie Bouviers de la Motte Guyon was born 
April 13, 1648, at Montargis, about fifty' miles south of 
Paris. She grew up under influences which gave her 
free access to the circles of fashion and wealth. Tall and 
beautiful in person, refined and prepossessing in manners, 
fluent and ready in speech, she was the centre of at- 
traction in whatever position she moved. 

At sixteen, through parental maneuvering, she was 
made the victim of an uncongenial marriage with M. 
Guyon, a man of wealth. "It was then," said she, "I 
began to eat the bread of sorrow, and mingle my drink 
with tears." After twelve years of cruel treatment, re- 
ceived from her mother-in-law, her husband died, leaving 
her with a family. These trials led her to seek a refuge 
from sin and sorrow. After many self-saving efforts, 
Christ became to her the "all" of salvation. With a 
heart all aglow with a Saviour's love, she sought by all 
possible means to make him known to others, in all parts 
of France and Italy. 

Her converts became so numerous, and her influence 
so great, that the papacy sought in every possible way to 
neutralize her power. They publicly burnt her books, 
set in motion the vilest calumny, and instigated a servant 
to give her poison. "But, " said she, "the more perse- 
cution raged against me, the more attentively was the 
word of the Lord listened to, and the greater the number 
of spiritual children were given to me." In 1688, by 




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MADAME GUYON 



y 



Madame Guy on continued. 



187 



9&^ 



order of the king, she was imprisoned in the Convent of 
St. Marie. Herdaughter and all her comforts were taken 
from her. 

Though the air of the small room, in which she was im- 
prisoned, was so confined and heated, that she says "it 
seemed like a stove," yet now she realized that 

" prisons would palaces prove, 

If Jesus were with me there/' 

It was in this cell, she wrote those memorable lines : — 

" A little bird I am 

Shut from the fields of air, 
And in my cage I sit and sing 

To Him who placed me there; 
Well pleased a prisoner to be, 
Because, my God it pleases thee. 

u Nought have I else to do, 

I sing the whole day long, 
And He whom most I love to please 

Doth listen to my song: 
He caught and bound my wandering wing, 

And still he bends to hear me sing. 
"Oh! it is good to soar, 

These bolts and bars above, 
To Him whose purpose I adore, 

Whose Providence I love ; 
And in thy mighty will to find 

The joy, the freedom of the mind." 

The king's wife having interceded on her behalf, she 
was set free after eight months' imprisonment. But on 
the charge that she did not worship saints, and held 
meetings in private houses, she was, in 1695, again ar- 
rested, and confined in the Castle of Vincennes. 

" There," she tells us, " I passed my time in great peace, 
content to pass the rest of my life there, if such were the 
will of God. I sang songs of joy, which the maid who 
served me learned by heart, as fast as I made them ; and 
we together sang thy praises, O my God ! The stones 
of my prison looked in my eyes like rubies. I esteemed 




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188 



Madame Guy on continued. 



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them more than all the gaudy brilliancies of the world. 
My heart was full of that joy thou givest to them that 
love Thee in the midst of their greatest crosses." 

This maid, La Gautiere, to whom she refers, was one 
of her spiritual children, who was willing to go into 
prison with her for Christ's sake. When her brother 
sought to allure her away, she wrote saying, "If your 
house, my dear brother, had been made of precious stones, 
and if I could have been treated and honored in it as a 
queen, yet I should have forsaken all to follow after God." 
To write this letter she had to "use soot instead of ink, 
and a bit of stick instead of a pen," and yet what pen 
and ink ever wrote more heroic words. From this prison 
she was removed, in 1696, to the prison of Vaugirard, 
from which she was removed in 1698, to the famous 
Bastile, that "abode of broken hearts." 

When incarcerated in the Bastile, they were separated 
and each had to sing alone. Here the maid exchanged 
her dark cell for a bright home in heaven. But Madam 
Guyon was imprisoned four years, when she was banished 
for the remainder of her life to Blois. It was here she 
could appropriately use the language of her hymn : — 

"My Lord! how full of sweet content, 
I pass my years of banishment! 
Where'er I dwell, I dwell with thee, 
In heaven, in earth, or on the sea. 

11 To me remains nor place nor time ; 
My country is in every clime: 
I can be calm and free from care 
On any shore, since God is there." 

After leaving the Bastile she says : " My body was from 
that time sick and borne down with all kinds of infirmi- 
ties." She died June, 1717, in her seventieth year. 
Her peaceful end is pictured in these words, that she 
wrote to a friend : " If my work is done, I think I can 
say, I am ready to go. In the language of the proverb, 



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Madame Guy on continued. 



189 



I have already ' one foot in the stirrup/ and am ready to 
mount and be gone, as soon as my heavenly Father 
pleases." 

Most of her hymns in use are translations by Cowper, 
who said: "Her verse is the only French verse I find 
agreeable, there is a neatness in it, equal to that which 
we applaud in the compositions of Prior." He says the 
Rev. Mr. Bull "rode twenty miles to see her picture in 
the house of a stranger, which stranger politely insisted 
on his acceptance of it, and it now hangs over his chimney. 
It is a striking picture, and, were it encompassed with 
a glory, instead of being dressed in a nun's hood, might 
pass for the face of an angel." 

She composed many hymns and poems, which, with 
her other writings, fill five octavo volumes. 

Her heart seemed to be ascending to God in a continual 
flame of warmest love. Her frequent ejaculations were, 
" my God, let me be wholly thine! Let me love Thee 
purely for thyself, for thou art infinitely lovely. O my 
God, be Thou my all ! Let everything be as nothing to me." 

How much significance such heart longings give to the 
language of her hymn : — 

"I would love thee, God and Father! 
My Redeemer! and my King! 
I would love thee: and without thee, 
Life is but a bitter thing. 

"I would love thee: look upon me, 
^ver guide me with thine eye : 
I would love thee ; if not nourished 
By thy love, my soul would die. 

" I would love thee ; may thy brightness 
Dazzle my rejoicing eyes ; 
I would love thee ; may thy goodness 
Watch from heaven o'er all I prize. 

"I would love thee, — I have vowed it,- 
On thy love my heart is set; 
While I love thee, I will never 
My Redeemer's blood forget." 




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190 



Henry Harbaugh. 



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Harbaugh and his Hymns. 

fEV. HENRY HARBAUGH, D. D. wrote some 
beautiful poetry, but is more widely known through 
his three popular works : "The Sainted Dead," "The 
Heavenly Recognition," and "The Heavenly Home." 
He was born near Waynesboro' Penn., Oct. 28, 1817. 
In Harbaugh's autobiographical poems, he has inter- 
woven some pleasing sketches of his life. And as they 
will give a clearer and more satisfactory insight into his 
character, than any picturing our pen may be able to 
give, we will furnish a few extracts herewith. His 
school-boy days, he describes in " The Old School-House 
at the Creek:"— 

" I've travelled long and travelled far, 

Till weary, worn, and sick; 
How joyless all that I have found, 
Compared with scenes that lie around 

This school-house at the creek. 

"'Twas here I first attended school, 

When I was very small : 
There was the master on his stool, 
There was his whip and there his rule — 

I seem to see it all. 

"Around the cosy stove, in rows, 

The little tribe appears ; 
What hummings make those busy bees — 
They better like their A, B, O's, 

Than boxing- at their ears ! 

u The long desks ranged along the walls, 

With books and inkstands crowned; 
Here on this side the large girls sat, 
And there the tricky boys on that — 
See ! how they peep around ! " 

11 The master eyes them closely now, 

They'd better have a care ; 
The one that writes a billet-doux — 
The one that plays his antics, too — 

And that chap laughing there ! " 



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HENRY HARBAUGH. 



Ilarbaugh continued. 



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Harbaugh was early led into the path of piety, while 
growing up under the nurture of Christian parents, and 
united with the German Reformed Chureh of which the 
Rev. G. W. Glessner was pastor. How graphically, in 
after years, he depicts his heart-yearnings towards that 
Christian home, and the devoted mother, whose blessings 
he craved when going away to prepare himself for the 
work of the gospel ministry. In his poem on "Home- 
sickness," he says: — 

" Two spots on this old friendly porch 

I love, nor can forget, 
Till dimly in the night of death 

My life's last sun shall set! 
When first I left rny father's house, 

One summer morning bright, 
My mother at that railing wept 

Till I was out of sight ! 
Now like a holy star that spot 

Shines in this world's dull night. 

" Stir, still I see her at that spot, 

With handkerchief in hand ; 
Her cheeks are red — her eyes are wet — 

There, there I see her stand! 
'Twas there I gave her my good-bye, 

There, did her blessing crave, 
And oh, with what a ui other's heart 

She that sought blessing gave. 
It was the last — ere I returned 

She rested in her grave ! " 

In 1843, after the completion of his studies at Mer- 
cersburg, Pa., he w r as licensed to preach, and soon after- 
wards was installed as pastor of the Reformed Church at 
Lewisburg, Pa. Here he wrote his "Sainted Dead." 
After six years of successful labor, he accepted a call from 
the First Reformed Church of Lancaster, Pa. While 
at this place he received the title of doctor of divinity, 
wrote his "Heavenly Recognition/' "Heavenly Home," 
« Birds of the Bible," "Union with the Church," and 




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194 



Harbaugh continued. 



"The true Glory of "Woman," with other valuable works. 

In 1860, he became pastor of St. Luke's Reformed 
Church, Lebanon, Pa. Here he wrote his "Hymns and 
Chants." Three years later, he was elected to the chair 
of Didactic and Practical Theology, in the seminary of 
the Reformed Church at Mereersburg. This position he 
filled with great honor, and general acceptance till his 
death, which took place December, 28, 1867. 

His earnest Christian life was but the utterance of his 
most popular hymn. Heartily he could say : — 

"Jesus! I live to thee, 

The loveliest and best; 
My life in thee is life to me, 
In thy blessed love I rtst." 

The sentiments of his second and third verses w r ere 
sweetly realized in his peaceful death. Just before his 
departure, on waking from slumber, he uttered as his 
last intelligible words: "You have called me back from 
the golden gates, from the verge of my heavenly home." 
Thus he could say: — 

"Jesus ! I die to thee, 

Whenever death shall come ; 
To die in thee is life to me 
In my eternal home. 

"Whether to live or die, 

I know not which is best; 
To live in thee is bliss to me, 
To die is endless rest." 

The last verse of this hymn is carved on the beautiful 
monument erected to his memory: — 

" Living or dying Lord! 
I ask but to be thine ; 
My life in thee, thy life in me, 
Makes heaven for ever mine." 

Another of his hymns, highly prized, commences, 

" Christ, by heavenly hosts adored." 



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Harbaugh continued. 



195 



" Heavenly Recognition " was a theme upon which he 
loved to dwell. Those of our readers, who love to cher- 
ish the memory of the sainted dead, will be pleased with 
the following from Harbaugh's poetic pen : — 

"Oft weeping memory sits alone, 
Beside some grave at even, 
And calls upon the spirit flown : 
Oh say! shall those on earth our own 
Be ours again — in Heaven ? 

"Amid these lone sepulchral shades 
To quiet slumbers given, 
Is not some lingering spirit near, 
To tell if those divided here, 
Unite and know — in Heaven ? 

"Shall friends, who o'er the waste of life, 
By the same storms were driven — 
Shall they recount in realms of bliss, 
The fortunes and the tears of this, 
And love again — in Heaven ? 

"Of hearts which had on earth been one, 

By death asunder riven, 
Why does the one that has been reft 
Drag off in grief ihe mourner left, 

If not to meet — in Heaven? 

"The warmest love on earth is still 
Imperfect when 'tis given ; 
But there's a purer clime above, 
Where perfect hearts in perfect love 
Unite ; and this — is Heaven. 

u If love on earth is but " in part " 

As light and shade at even ; 
If sin doth plant a thorn between 
The truest hearts there is I ween, 

A perfect love — in Heaven. 

"0 happy world ! glorious place ! 

Where all who are forgiven, 
Shall find their loved and lost below ; 
And hearts, like meeting streams, shall flow 

Forever one — in Heaven." 



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196 



Joseph Hart and his hymns. 



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"Come, ye sinners, poor and needy." 

PON many occasions of doe]) 
religious awakening this hymn 
is announced as the one to call 
forth decision for Christ. It is 
associated in the memory of 
God's people with very many 
seasons of revival. 

The author was the Rev. 
Joseph Hart, who was born of 
pious parents in London in 
1712. In 1759, he published 
a volume of " Hymns on Va- 
rious Subjects, w T ith the Author's experience. 1 ' 

In his preface, he says, " The following hymns were 
composed partly from several passages of Scripture, laid 
on my heart, or opened to my understanding, from time 
to time, by the Spirit of God. * * I desire wholly to 
submit myself, to the all-wise disposal of that God, the 
sweet enlivening influences of whose Spirit I often felt 
while they were composing. " 

Of his hymns that have become especially endeared to 
the lovers of Zion, we may mention the following, com- 
mencing thus: — 

" Come, Holy Spirit, come. " 
" Once more we come before our God. " 
" for a glance of heavenly day. " 
" Prayer is appointed to convey. " 
''Dismiss us with thy blessing, Lord.'' 
u Once more before we part. " 

Though he received a good education, and was occu- 
pied at first as a teacher of languages, and at times felt 




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Hart continued. 



197 



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anxious about his soul, yet he says : "In this abominable 
state I continued a bold-faced rebel for nine years, not 
only committing acts of lewdness myself, but infecting 
others also with the poison of my delusions," and even 
went so far as to write a work on " the unreasonableness 
of religion." * * " After a time I fell into a deep de- 
spondency of mind, and, shunning all company, I went 
about alone bewailing my sad and dark condition. 

" In this sad state I went moping about till Whit 
Sunday, 1757, when I happened to go in the afternoon 
to the Moravian Chapel in Fetter Lane. The minister 
preached from Rev. iii. 10. I was much impressed. 

"I was hardly got home, when I felt myself melting 
away into a strange softni ss of affection which made 
me fling myself on my knees before God. My horrors 
were immediately expelled, and such comfort flowed in- 
to my heart as no words can paint. The Lord, by his 
Spirit of love, came, not in a visionary manner into my 
brain, but with such divine power and energy into my 
soul, that I Avas lost in blissful amazement. I cried out, 
'What, me, Lord?' His Spirit answered in me, 'Yes, 
thee!' I objected, 'But I have been so unspeakably 
vile and wicked ! ' The answer was, ' I pardon thee free- 
ly and fully ! ' The alteration I then felt in my soul was 
as sudden and palpable as that which is experienced by 
a person staggering and almost sinking under a burden, 
when it is immediately taken from his shoulders. Tears 
ran in streams from my eyes for a considerable while, 
and I was so swallowed up in joy and thankfulness that 
I hardly knew where I was. I threw myself willingly 
into my Saviour's hands; lay weeping at his feet, whol- 
ly resigned to his will, and only begging that I might, 
if He were graciously pleased to permit it, be of service 
to his Church and people. Jesus Christ and him cruci- 
fied is now the only thing I desire to know. All things 






198 



Hart continued. 



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to me are rich only when they are enriched with the 
blood of the Lamb. 

"The week before Easter, 1757, I had such an amaz- 
ing view of the agony of Christ in the garden, as I know 
not well how to describe. I was lost in wonder and 
adoration ; and the impression was too deep, I believe, 
ever to be obliterated. It w T as then I made the first part 
of my hymn: — 

Come, all 3'e chosen saints of God 
That long to feel the cleansing blood, 

In pensive pleasures join with me 
To sing of sad Gethsemane." 

Many of his hymns were but counterparts of his own 
experience. He had been among the 

" sinners poor and needy, 
Weak and wounded, sick and sore ; " 

and ior many years had been 

" weary, heavy laden, 
Bruised and broken by the fall. " 

In 1760, he settled in London as pastor of the " Old 
Wooden Meeting-house in Jewin Street," built nearly 
a century before for William Jenkyn. 

Here he ministered to a very large congregation, who 
looked upon him as an " earnest, eloquent and much be- 
loved " minister of the Gospel. 

Though laboring under great affliction, he continued 
his labors among this people till May 24th, 1768, when, 
at the age of fifty-six, he passed up to his reward. 

In his funeral sermon it was said, " He was like the 
laborious ox that dies with the yoke on his neck ; so 
died he with the yoke of Christ on his neck: neither 
would he suffer it to be taken off: for ye are his witnesses 
that he preached Christ to you, with the arrows of death 
sticking in him." 

A great exhibition of affection, it is said,was shown in 
that over twenty thousand persons attended his funeral. 




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TJiomas TIaweis's hymn. 



199 



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Hymns that " Mean Me." 

% FEW days ago, says Mr. Ralph Wells, we admitted 
<eP six mission children from our school into the church. 
When the session came to examine the candidates, 
one of the elders asked a little girl of twelve years, 
" Masrsrie, what first interested your heart in the Saviour." 
" It was one of those large hymns, sir, one of the printed 
hymns that they use in the school. The hymn was that 
beautiful one : — 

" ' From the cross uplifted high, 
Where the Saviour deigns to die, 
What melodious sounds we hear 
Bursting on the ravished ear ; 
Loves redeeming work is done, 
Come and welcome, sinner, come.' 

" Oh sir !" said this child fresh from her tenement 
home, " It was those kind words : — 

" ' Come and welcome, sinner, come.' 

I said to myself that means me ; for, if it means ( sinner/ 
it is for poor Maggie." 



R. Wells 
hymn : — 



says that whenever he hears the sweet 



" Jesus loves me, this T know, 
For the Bible tells me so," 



it recalls an incident of a half-witted colored boy, of whom 
a Sunday school teacher said : " Mr. Wells, you needn't 
speak to him. He don't know anything. " "But," says 
Mr. Wells, "I did. I said 'What is your name, my 
son?' He looked at me a moment, and slowly answered : 
'J-i-m-m-y, sir. ' 'Can you tell me what the Bible tells 
Jimmy.' He looked all around the room, as if trying to 
find something, and then looked me right in the eye, and 
said : ' The Bible says, Jesus loves Jimmy. 



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200 



Hiss TIavergaVs hymn. 



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Origin of a Hymn by "Quite a Young Girl." 

tN" reply to a private letter sent from Brooklyn, con- 
cerning a hymn that is now being widely sung, Miss 
Frances Ridley Havergal writes as follows: — 

" My Dear Unknown Friend in Jesus — Mrs. S. asked 
me to write and answer myself your question about the 
hymn, " I give My life for thee." Yes, it is mine, and 
perhaps it may interest you to hear how nearly it went 
into the fire, instead of nearly all over the world. 

"It was, I think, the very first thing I ever wrote which 
could be called a hymn, written when I was quite a 
young girl (1859). I did not half realize what I was 
writing about. I was following very far off, always 
doubting and fearing. I think I had come to Jesus with 
a trembling, hem-touching faith, but it was a coming in 
the press, and behind, never seeing His face, or feeling 
sure that He loved me, though I was clear that I could 
not do without Him, and wanted to serve and follow 
Him. 

" I don't know how I came to write it. I scribbled it 
in pencil on the back of a circular, in a few minutes, and 
then read it over and thought, " Well, this is not poetry, 
anyhow ! I won't go to the trouble to copy this." So I 
reached out my hand to put it into the fire ! a sudden 
impulse made me draw it back ; I put it, crumpled and 
singed, into my pocket. Soon after I went out to see a 
dear old woman in an alms house. She began talking to 
me, as she always did, about her dear Saviour, and I 
thought I would see if she, a simple old woman, would 
care for these verses, which I felt sure nobody else would 
ever care to read. So I read them to her, and she was 
so delighted with them that, when I went back, I copied 
them out, and kept them, and now the Master has sent 




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Miss HavergaVs hymn continued. 



201 



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them out in all directions. I have seen tears while they 
have been sung at mission services, and have heard of 
them being really blessed to many." 
The following is the hymn: — 




" I gave my life for thee, 

My precious blood I shed, 
That thou might st ransom'd be, 

And quickened from the dead. 
I gave, I gave my life for thee : 
What hast thou given for me ? * 

"My Father's house of light, 
My glory circled throne, 
I left for earthly ni^ht, 

For wanderings sad and lone ; 
I left, I left it all for thee : 
Hast thou left aught for me ? 

" I suffered much for thee, 

More than thy tongue can tell, 

Of bitt'rest agony, 

To rescue thee from hell ; 

I've borne, I've borne it all for thee : 

What hast thou borne for me ? 

"And I have brought to thee, 

Down from my home above, 
Salvation full and free, 

My pardon and my love ; 
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee : 
What hast thou brought to me ? 

u 0, l^t thy life be given. 

Thy tears that yet remain. 
World fetters all be riven, 

Give me thy joy and pain ; 
Give thou, give thou thyself to me, 
And I will welcome thee ! " 

Miss Havergal is the youngest daughter of Rev. W. 
H. Havergal. She has written seventy-seven hymns and 
poems. Her father wrote about one hundred. 



§/ 



202 



Reginald Ileber. 



rftf 



Southey's Lines on the Portrait of Heber. 

" Yes, — such as these were Heber's lineaments ; 
Such his capacious front, 
His comprehensive eye, 
His open brow serene. 
Such was the gentle countenance which bore 

Of generous feeling and of golden truth 
Sure Nature's sterling impress ; never there 
Unruly passion left 
Its ominous marks infixed, 
Nor the worst die of evil habit set 
An inward stain engrained. 
Such were the lips whose salient playfulness 
Enlivened peaceful hours of private life ; 
Whose eloquence 
Held congregations open eared, 
As from the heart it flowed, a living stream 
Of Christian wisdom, pure and undefiled. " 

u Yes, to the Christian, to the Heathen world. 
Heber, thou art not dead — thou canst not die ! 
Nor can I think of thee as lost. 
A little portion of this little isle 
At first divided us ; then half" the globe ; 
The same earth held us still ; but when, 

Reginald, wert thou so near as now? 

1 Tis but the falling of the withered leaf, 

The breaking of a shell, 
The rending of a veil ! 
0, when that leaf shall fall, 
That shell be burst, that veil be rent, may then 
My spirit be with thine ! " 

Rev. Dr. Turner, who followed Heber to the same 
field of labor, wrote of him the following lines, in imita- 
tion of the bishop's hymn, " Thou art gone to the grave : " 

" Thou art gone to the grave ; and while nations bemoan thee 
Who drank from thy lips the glad tidings of peace, 
Yet, grateful, they still in their heart shall enthrone thee, 
And ne'er shall thy name from their memory cease. ; ' 




c 



1/ 




*- 










Reginald Heber. 



205 




Author of "From Greenland's icy mountains. 



9? 



EGINALD HEBER, D. D., was born April 21, 
(|f 1783, at Malpas, England. His father had the same 
name, and was rector of the Episcopal church at that 
place. Like many other hymnists, he began to display 
piety and talent from early childhood. He could not 
only read his Bible with fluency when but five years of 
age, but was already so familiar with its contents, that 
when his father, with some friends, w r ere discussing as to 
the book where a particular passage could be found, they 
turned to little Reginald for information, when he at once 
named both the book and chapter. 

Hearing the conundrum asked one day: "Where 
was Moses when the candle went out?" he answered at 
once, "On Mount Nebo, for there he died, and it may 
be said that his lamp of life went out. " 

At seven years of age he was already so proficient in 
Latin that he translated Phcedrus into English verse. 

While at grammar school in his eight year, he became 
so absorbed in his studies that, receiving a new book, he 
was so completely "abstracted in it that he was not in 
the least aware of a * barring out,' which, with all its 
accompanying noise and confusion, had been going 
on for a couple of hours around him, and of which he 
became conscious as the increasing darkness forced him 
to lay down his book. Well did his brother say, "Reg- 
inald did more than read books, he devoured them." 

His heart was naturally so benevolent that while on a 
journey to his boarding school, he became so affeeted by 
the story of a poor man, that he gave away all he had y 
so that afterwards they found it "necessary to sew the 
bank notes, given him for his half year's pocket money 
in school, in the lining of his pockets, that he might not 
give them away in charity on the road. " 




r 



206 



Reginald Heber continued. 



r 



When about fourteen years old he begged permission 
of his mother to unite with her in partaking of the sa- 
crament of the Lord's supper on the the following Sab- 
bath, to which his happy mother consented with tears of 
joy and aifection. 

He entered college in 1800, and in the following year 
gained a prize for a poem on " The Commencement of the 
New Century. " After this followed another prize po- 
em on " Palestine. " The reading of this called forth 
great applause. 

Miss Jermyn refers thus to his father who, as an eye- 
witness, was greatly moved by the occasion : — 

" What means that stifled sob, that groan of joy, 
Why fall those tears upon thy furrowed cheek? 
The aged father hears his darling boy, 
And sobs and tears alone his feelings speak. " 

After witnessing the hearty applause of an enraptured 
audience, Heber withdrew from the scene, and for some 
time could not be found by his anxious mother. At length 
to her surprize and joy, she came across him in his pri- 
vate chamber, where he was seen upon bended knees, 
laying his trophies at Jesus' feet. 

After entering the ministry of the Episcopal church, 
he became rector of Hodnet, in Shropshire in 1807. 

Improvement in church singing was among his first 
efforts. Writing to his friend Thornton, he says, "My 
Psalm-singing continues bad. Can you tell me where 
I can purchase Cowper's Olney Hymns, to put in the 
seats? Some of them I admire much, and any novelty 
is likely to become a favorite, and draw more people to 
join in singing." 

After sixteen years of pastoral labors, he accepted of 
an appointment to go to — 

" India's coral strand. " 




The diocese, committed to his hands as bishop, ex- 



1/ 



Regnald Heber continued. 



207 



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tended over more than the whole of India. His excessive 
labors sank him to the grave in three short years. 

At the close of a busy day's work, he entered a bath, 
where his exhausted frame was soon afterwards found a 
corpse. This took place at Trichinopoly, April 2, 1826. 

At his funeral the road was crowded by heathen and 

Christian natives, who, by many tears and sobs, attested 

their heart-felt appreciation of his services. His remains 

rest amid the "coral strand," — 

" Till o'er our ransomed nature 
The Lamb for sinners slain, 
Redeemer, King, Creator. 
In bliss returns to reign. " 

A monument was erected by his friends in Ceylon, 
in memory of his labors in this island as on the peninsula. 
So that his name is also embalmed amid "the 
breezes" that — 

" blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle. *' 




spicy 



There was a time when he could say, as he listened to 
the "joyful sound" from a great multitude of Christian- 
ized heathen voices, — 

" earth's remotest nation, 

Has learned Messiah's name. " 

At a Tamul service at Tangore, which was attended 
by thirteen hundred native Christians, the bishop was 
greatly moved as he heard so many but lately res- 
cued from the pollution of their heathen idolatry, now 
joining in singing the sentiments of the 100th psalm: — 
tl We'll crowd Thy gates with joyful songs, 
High as the heavens our voices raise ; 
And earth, with her ten thousand tongues, 
Shall fill Thy courts with sounding praise. " 

Said he, "For the last ten years I have longed to wit- 
ness a scene like this, but the reality exceeds all my ex- 
pectation. Gladly would I exchange years of common 
life for one such day as this. " 



W 



2C8 



Heber' 1 s Hymn. 



Origin of 



From Greenland's icy mountains." 



fF the fifty-nine elegant hymns written by Bishop 
Heber none are so widely known or so frequently 
sung as his missionary hymn. 

In 1819, a royal letter authorized collections to be 
taken in every church and chapel in England connected 
with the establishment, in furtherance of the Society for 
Propagating the Gospel. 

On the evening of Whitsunday, which was the day 
appointed for this purpose, Heber had engaged to deliver 
the first of a series of Sunday evening lectures, in the 
church at Wrexham, which was in charge of his father- 
in-law, the Rev. Dr. Shipley. 

On the Saturday previous, as they were seated around 
the table in the parsonage, the Dean requested his son- 
in-law to write something for them to sing in the morn- 
ing, that would be suitable to the missionary service. 
Heber at once retired from the circle of friends to a cor- 
ner of the room. 

After a while his father-in-law inquired, "What have 
vou written?" Heber then read the first three verses, 
which he had already produced. "There, that will do 
very well," said the Dean. "No, — no," said Heber, 
"the sense is not complete." Accordingly he added the 
fourth verse, commencing: — 

" "Waft, waft, ye winds, His story. " 

Next morning it was sung in the church at Wrexham, 
and soon after was caught up as the grand missionary 
hymn of the church universal, reaching "from pole to 
pole." The Rev. Dr. Raffles was in possession of the 
original manuscript, from which it is seen that so accu- 
rately was it written at first that he had occasion to alter 
but one word. 



C 




Greenland's icy mountains. 



Heber 1 s hymns. 



211 



C 



Origin of "Thou art gone to the grave." 

tN the biography of Bishop Heber it is said : "The loss 
of their only child was long and severely felt by 
Mr. and Mrs. Heber; her father could never think 
of or name her without tears; and his private devotions 
generally concluded with an earnest prayer that he might, 
at his last hour, be found worthy to rejoin his departed 
child. To the feelings which this bereavement occasioned 
may be traced the production of the following lines: — 

' Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not deplore thee, 
Though sorrows and darkness encompass the tomb ; 
The Saviour has passed through the portals before thee, 
And the lamp of his love is thy guide through the gloom.' " 

Heber was characterized by great tenderness of heart. 
He says in a letter to a friend, that owing to his eyes 
being so blinded with tears, it took him two days to pen 
the lines that tell of the departure of his sainted father, 
of whose end he says: "A smile sat on the pale counte- 
nance, and his eyes sparkled brighter than I ever saw 
them. From this time he spoke but little; his lips 
moved, and his eyes were raised upwards. He blessed 
us again, we kissed him, and found his lips cold and 
breathless. " 

The vessel that took him to India had a detachment 
of invalid soldiers on board. For their salvation he la- 
bored so faithfully that they exclaimed, "Only think of 
such a great man as the bishop coming between decks to 
pray with such poor fellows as we are. " Then again he 
opened his heart of sympathy to an afflicted mother, 
whose child had just been buried in an ocean-grave. " At 
intervals," says a witness, "I hear him weeping and 
praying for her in his own cabin. I have never seen 
such tenderness. " 




W 



212 



Rowland Hill. 



C 



Rowland Hill and his Hymns. 

fOWLAND HILL occupied a conspicuous place 
among the champions of the cross, during the last 
century. He was stimulated and encouraged by the 
advice and example of Berridge and Whitefield, in early 
life, and became, like them, distinguished for his ability 
to reach and move the masses. Not unfrequently would 
his audiences number from five to ten thousand, and 
sometimes even twenty thousand. 

He was born at Hawkston, England, August 23, 
1744. Dr. Watts's "Hymns for Children" produced a 
deep religious impression upon him in early childhood. 
But his conversion did not take place till he was seven- 
teen. This was effected through the instrumentality of 
an earnest and faithful brother. 

He became at once decided and whole-hearted in his 
Christianity. So much so that when he went to college at 
Cambridge he said, that, on account of his religion, " no- 
body ever gave me a cordial smile, except the old shoe- 
black at the gate, who had the love of Christ in his heart." 

The report of his piety and zeal reaching the ears of 
Berridge and Whitefield, they frequently sent him words 
of encouragement. In one of Whitefield's letters he 
refers to his own student experience: — 

" We never prospered so much at Oxford, as when we 
were hissed at and reproached as we walked along the 
street, as being called the dung and off-scouring of all 
things. That is a poor building that a little stinking 
breath of Satan's vassals can throw down. Your house 
I trust is better founded, — is it not built upon a rock? 

Lady Huntingdon is in town, — she will 

rejoice to hear that you are under the cross." Berridge 
wrote, " I feel my heart go out to you whilst I am writing, 
and can embrace you as my second self. How soft and 




1) 




ROWLAND RILL. 



Rowland Hill continued. 



215 



C 



sweet are those silken cords which the dear Redeemer 

twines and ties about the hearts of his children 

I think your chief work for a season, will be to break up 
fallow ground." To this work Mr. Hill was inclined, 
and well fitted, both by nature and Providence. 

That there was much "fallow ground" in those times, 
will appear from some of his own statements. 

Two days after the receipt of Berridge's letter, he says 
in his diary, of ons of his meetings: — 

"There was such a noise with beating of pans, shovels, 
blowing of horns and ringing of bells, that I could scarce 
hear myself speak. Though we were pelted with much 
dirt, and eggs, I was enabled to preach out my sermon." 

The irregularity of these student-efforts eventually 
caused six different bishops to refuse him orders as deacon. 
In 1773, however, he was enabled to write: "Through 
the kind and unexpected interposition of Providence, I 
was ordained without any condition, or compromise 
whatever." This took place through Dr. Wills, the aged 
bishop of Bath and Wells. 

Believing that the "field is the world," he said, 
"Though I wander about, I stick to my parish." Drawn 
by his flaming zeal, his apt illustrations, and his im- 
pressive oratory the people flocked around him in innu- 
merable numbers, in churches, chapels, market-places, 
fields, and everywhere. "I like to go and hear Rowland 
Hill," said Sheridan, "because his ideas come red-hot 
from the heart." At one time, he said : " Because I am 
in earnest, men call mean enthusiast. But I am not; 
mine are the words of truth and soberness. When I 
first came into this part of the country, I was walking 
on yonder hill; I saw a gravel-pit fall in, and bury three 
human beings alive. I lifted up my voice for help so 
loud that I was heard in the town below, at a distance 
of a mile ; help came, and rescued two of the poor suffer- 



216 



Rowland Hill. 



ers. No one called me an enthusiast then j and when I 
see eternal destruction ready to fall upon poor sinners, 
and about to entomb them irrecoverably in an eternal 
mass of woe, and call aloud on them to escape, shall I 
be called an enthusiast now?" 

In 1783, Rowland Hill's friends built for him the 
Surrey Chapel, that would hold three thousand persons. 
The site was upon what was called "one of the worst 
spots in London." 

In 1783, Mr. Hill published a "Collection of Psalms 
and Hymns," which passed through many editions. 
In the preface, he says of the hymns, "Some of them are 
by no means the better for being entirely new." How 
many of them were his own is not certainly known. In 
1790, he issued his "Divine Hymns for the Use of 
Children," which were corrected by Cowper. The fol- 
lowing is a specimen of one of them : — 

"Dear Jesus, let an infant claim 
The favour to adore thy name; 
Thou wast so meek that babes might be 
Encouraged to drBw neai to thee. 

" My gracions Saviour, I believe 
Thou canst a little ~hild receive; 
Thy tender love for us is free, 
And why not love poor sinful me?" 

A number of his hymns were written to be sung at the 
close of his sermons. This was the case with "The Fu- 
neral of old Bigotry," beginning, 

" Here lies old Bigotry, abhorr'd 
By all that love our common Lord." 

and closing with the verse : — 

"Let names, and sectd, and parties fall; 
Let Jesus Christ be all in all. 
Thus, like thy saints above, shall we 
Be one with each other as one with thee." 

After preaching on Psalm, xx, 7, 8, he introduced his 



C 



Rowland Hill continued. 



219 



popular hymn, that was sung with wonderful effect by 

an immense congregation, commencing, 

" Come, thou incarnate word, 
Gird on thy mighty sword." 

As he lay upon his death-bed, watching his approach- 
ing end, he was heard repeating the language of the fol- 
lowing beautiful hymn. He had written it for the com- 
fort of a dying member of his congregation. It is found 
in many of the hymn-books now in use : — 

u Gently, my Saviour, let me down 
To slumber in the arms of death ; 
I rest my soul on thee alone, 
E'en till my last expiring breath. 

" Death's dreadful sting has lost its power ; 
A ransomed sinner, saved by grace, 
Lives but to die, and die no more, 
Unveiled to see thy blissful face. 

u Soon will the storm of life be o'er, 
And I shall enter endless rest : 
There shall I live to sin no more, 
And bless thy name forever blest." 

The following lines, says -his nephew, were perpetually 

on his lips for nearly a year before he died, and were the 

last words he tried to utter in the solemn hour of dissso- 

lution: — 

" And when I'm to die, 
Receive me, I'll cry, 
For Jesus hath loved me, I cannot tell why." 

On the 19th of April, 1833, in the eighty-ninth year 
of his pilgrimage, Mr. Hill calmly closed his eyes in 
death, without a sigh or groan, or any other evidence of a 
last struggle. " Those about him could scarcely believe 
he was gone, so peaceful was his end — so gently, in an- 
swer to his own hymn-prayer, was he let down to slumber 
in the arms of death." 

He was buried under the pulpit in Surrey-chapel, 
from which he had proclaimed the gospel fifty years. 



C 



220 



Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. 



C 



Author of "When thou, my righteous Judge shalt come." 

fADY HUNTINGDON not only left to the world 
one of the brightest examples of a life wholly conse- 
crated to Christ, but also the above hymn, that has 
been echoing in the praises of the sanctuary for over a 
century. Her soul was first awakened to realize its des- 
tiny and danger while attending the funeral of a play- 
mate, when but nine years of age. 

The sights and sounds of that day left an impress that 
the bright future, that gilded her girlhood days, could 
not dispel. Often would she visit that glassy mound of 
her departed friend, and then steal away to the little 
closet, to pour out her soul in earnest supplication, and 
ponder over the questions which, in later years, she so 
vividly expressed in her hymn: — 

"When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come 
To take thy ransomed people home, 
* Shall I among them stand ? 
Shall such a worthless worm as I, 
Who sometimes am afraid to die, 
Be found at thy right hand?" 

When twenty-one years of age, she was married to 
Theophilus Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, and introduced 
to all the splendors and excitements of high English life. 

This marriage brought her into contact with her sister- 
in-law, Lady Margaret Hastings, who, one day remarked 
that, since she had known and believed in the Lord 
Jesus Christ for life and salvation, she had been as happy 
as an angel." 

This testimony stirred again the depths of her soul. 
Her early convictions and fear of death now returned, 
and so disturbed her bodily health, that she w T as thrown 
upon a sick bed, and for some time seemed fast tending 



towards the grave. 



At length, she was enabled to lift 



W 






fr^tZi/rci/i^' 



n 



Lady Huntingdon continued. 



223 



up her cry to God as afterwards repeated in her hymn, — 

"Thy pardoning voice, let me hear, 
To still my unbelieving fear, " 

when in a glad moment the sound of peace and pardon 
echoed through her soul, her bodily disease at the same 
time took a favorable turn, and she was in a double sense 
"a new creature." 

"Writing to Charles Wesley she says, "How solid is 
the peace, and how divine the joy that springs from an 
assurance that we are united to the Saviour bv a living; 
faith. Blessed be his name. I have an abiding sense 
of his presence with me, notwithstanding the weakness 
and un worthiness I feel, and an intense desire that he 
may be glorified in the salvation of souls. " Among the 
many evidences of this " intense desire" we may men- 
tion the following. A workman who was repairing 
her garden wall she earnestly urged to take some thought 
concerning eternity and the state of his soul. Years after- 
wards speaking to another upon the same subject, she 
said, " Thomas, I fear you never pray, or look to Christ 
for salvation. " 

" Your ladyship is mistaken, " replied the man ; " I 
heard what passed between you and James at the garden 
wall, and the word you meant for him took effect on me. " 

"How did you hear it?" she asked. 

"I heard it," Thomas answered, "on the other side of 
the garden, through a hole in the wall, and I shall never 
forget the impression I received." 

One day at court, the then Prince of "Wales asked, 
"where is my Lady Huntingdon, that she is so seldom 
here? " A Lady of fashion replied with a sneer, "I suppose 
praying with her beggars." The prince shook his head, 
saying, "When I am dying, I think I shall be happy to 
seize the skirt of Lady Huntingdon ? s mantle, to carry me 
up with her to heaven. " Thus expressing the senti- 




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224 



Lady Huntingdon continued. 



r 



ment contained in her hymn, — 

" Among thy saints let me be found, 
Whene'er th'archangel's trump shall sound." 

In her preface to her hymns she says, "And now, rea- 
der, it is neither your approbation of these hymns nor 
the objections you can make to them that is the material 
point; you are a creature of a day, and your heart, with 
trembling, often tells you this truth. Look well then, 
for a refuge from the sins of your life past, and from the 
just fears of death and judgment fast approaching. This 
is the grand point which lieth altogether between God 
and thy own soul. And be assured that nothing can 
bring comfort in life or death to thee, a sinner (and such 
thou now standest before God ) but a Saviour so full and 
complete as Jesus is found to be." 

Mr. Miller says, "Although the Countess was not much 
known as a hymn-writer, yet it is proved beyond doubt 
that she was the author of a few hymns of great excel- 
lence." Her collection for use in her chapels amounted 
to 317 hymns, in the fourth edition of which appeared 
the one referred to before, beginning, 

" Oh ! when my righteous Judge shall come." 

Originally it formed a second part of a piece on the 
Judgment Day, which is preceded by a first part, that 
commenced : — 

""We soon shall hear the midnight cry." 
"When I gave myself to the Lord," said she, "I like- 
wise devoted to him all my fortune." This for most of 
her life amounted to an income of about sixty thousand 
dollars a year, and when these means did not reach all 
her demands she sold her jewelry which she laid aside, 
when she found the pearl of great price. For these she 
realized nearly thirty-five hundred dollars, with which 
she built a chapel near her residence. 



Lady Huntingdon continued. 



225 



This was the beginning of her life work of erecting 
chapels by means of which she sought to reach the per- 
ishing masses. She assisted, and associated with Watts, 
the Wesleys, Whitefield, Berridge, Romaine, Toplady, 
Doddridge and others whose names became so luminous 
in the history of the great awakening of the eighteenth 
century. At the time of her death her chapels numbered 
sixty-seven. To provide ministers for these she founded 
an Institution at her own expense, at Trevecca, South 
Wales, which was dedicated by Whitefield on the sixty- 
first anniversary of her birth day. 

It was not her intention to leave the Established Church 
but found it neccessary after ecclesiastical proceedings were 
brought against her ministers. Shortly before her death 
the Connection was formed which continues to bear her 
name. In 1792 her college was removed to Cheshun»t, 
where it has been flourishing ever since. 

She knew by sweet experience what it was 

" To see thy smiling face. " 

As she approached the end of life's journey there seemed 
to be sunset glories that gilded the horizon; coming from 
her chamber one morning, her countenance lit up with 
unusual joy she said, "the Lord hath been present with 
my spirit this morning in a remarkable manner, what he 
means to convey to my mind I know not; it may be my 
approaching departure, my soul is filled with glory — I 
am as in the element of heaven itself." 

Soon after, the breaking of a blood vessel was the 
means of loosening life's silver cord that held her to earth, 
and thus in her eighty-fourth year she peacefullv passed 
to those mansions, where, as she says in the closing verse 
of her hymn : — 

-loudest of the throng I'll sing 



ftH 



While heaven's resounding mansions ring 
With shouts of sovereign grace." 



c 



226 



Lady Huntingdon's hymn. 




11 What if my name should be left out 
When Thou for them shalt call. " 






SOLDIER, mortally wounded, was lying in a hos- 
pital dying. All was still ; he had not spoken for 
some time. His last moment was just at hand. 
Suddenly the silence was broken, and the attending sur- 
geon was startled by the voice of the dying man uttering, 
clear and strong, the single word, "Here!" 

"What do you want?" asked the surgeon, hastening 
to his cot. A moment elapsed. There was a seeming 
struggle after recollection; then the lips of the dying 
soldier mumbled, "Nothing; but it was roll-call in heaven, 
and I was answering to my name. " 
These were his last words on earth. 

tAID a pious father in writing to his friends, " On 
January last I dreamed that the day of judgment was 
come. I saw the Judge on his great white throne, 
and all nations were gathered before him. My wife and 
I were on the right hand ; but I could not see my child- 
ren. I said, I cannot bear this ; I must go and seek them. 
" I went to the left hand of the Judge, and there found 
them all standing in the utmost despair. As soon as 
they saw me, they caught hold of me and cried, " O ! fath- 
er we will never part." I said, "My dear children, I 
am come to try, if possible, to get you out of this awful 
situation." So I took them all with me, but when we 
xrae near the Judge I thought he cast an angry look, 
cmd said, "What do thy children with thee now? They 
w T ould not take thy warning when on earth, and they 
shall not share with thee the crown in heaven ; depart ye 
cursed. " 

At these words I aw( bathed in tears. A while 
after this, as we were all - uing together on a Sabbath 



CI 



Lady Huntingdon's hymns. 



227 



evening, I related to them my dream. No sooner did I 
begin than first one, and then another, yea, all of them, 
hurst into tears, and God fastened conviction on their 
hearts. Five of them now rejoice in God their Saviour. n 



N old lady, who was an inveterate smoker, had a 

<ep dream one night, in which she thought, as she stood 

before the great white throne and the books were 

opened, her name could not be found in the book of life. 

Feeling sure that it was there, she entreated that it 
might be searched for again. As the keen eye of the 
Judgement up and down the list, he said, to her amaze- 
ment, "It cannot be found." With great agony she 
begged that he might but look through the book again ; 
when, after a while, she was told, "Yes, here it is at the 
corner of a page, but it is hard to find, as it is covered 
over, and nearly blotted out Avith tobacco smoke." 

This so alarmed her, that she awoke from the dream, 
and, as she feared that by persisting in sending up her 
smoke, it might entirely obscure her name, she threw 
away her pipe. Afterward she could calmly join in 
singing the second verse of Lady Huntingdon's hymn : — 

" I love to meet Thy people now, 
Before Thy feet with them to bow, 

Though vilest of them all ; 
But — can I bear the piercing thought — 
What if my name should be left out, 

When Thou for them shalt call ! " 

DISCONSOLATE believer dreamed one Sunday 
night that a hand was held before her, and for a long 
time she wondered what it meant. At length a finger 
pointed to the palm of the hand. With uplifted head 
and open eyes she traced the ~ r ~>rds: " Behold, I have 
graven thee upon the palm o y / hand." Oh! her de- 
light! her joy! as she saw her "\me thus engraved. 




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228 



Lady Huntingdon's hymn. 



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A Timely Interference. 

I R. Lowell Mason relates a sad "fix" they were in 
while he was acting as organist and leader of the 
singing, at the Bowdoin St. Church, Boston. 
He says, " The whole hymn was first read by the 
minister, and then, just before the singing-exercise com- 
menced, the direction was given, ' Omit the second stanza. ' 
The following are the first three stanzas, and the con- 
nection between the first and third stanzas will be seen : 

' When thou, my righteous Judge shatt come 
To take thy ransomed people home, 

Shall I among them stand? 
Shall such a worthless worm as I, 
Who sometimes am afraid to die, 

Be found at th} 7 right hand ? 

' I love to meet thy people now, 
Before thy feet with them to bow, 

Though vilest of them all ; 
But — can I bear the piercing thought — 
What if my name should be left out 

When thou for them shalt call? 

' Lord, prevent it by thy grace : 
Be thou my only hiding-place 

In this the accepted day; 
Thy pardoning voice, oh, let me hear, 
To still my unbelieving fear, 

Nor let me fall, I pray.' 

" The organist did not perceive the fearful connection 
between the first and third stanzas until a moment be- 
fore it was time to commence the latter, when, startled 
and terrified, he cried out, 'Sing the second stanza!' just 
in time to avoid the utterance of the frightful petition. n 

" Warm were the thanks expressed by members of the 
congregation after the service for their deliverance from 
the terrible moral collision with which they were 
threatened. " 



Two incidents. 



229 




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Amusing Mistakes. 

SdN the parish church of Fettercairn a custom existed 
^p> of the precentor, on communion Sabbaths, reading 
out each single line of the psalm before it was sung by 
the congregation. This practice gave rise to a some- 
what unlucky introduction of a line from the first Psalm. 
In most churches in Scotland, the communion tables are 
placed in the centre of the church. After sermon and 
prayer, the seats round these tables are occupied by the 
communicants, while a psalm is being sung. 

On one communion Sunday, the precentor observed the 
noble family of Eglantine approaching the tables, and 
likely to be kept out by those who pressed in before them. 
Being very zealons for their accommodation, he called 
out to an individual whom he considered to be the principal 
obstacle in clearing the passage, "Come back, Jock, and 
let in the noble family of Eglantine;" and then, turning 
to his psalm-book, he took up his duty, and went on to 
read the line, 

u Nor stand in the sinners' way. " 

§HE ORKNEY HERALD says that during the sing- 
ing of the first Psalm in the parish church of Birsay, 
a goose entered and quietly waddled up the passage 
towards the pulpit. 

The precentor got off the track with the music, and 
seemed unable to "go on." 

The minister observing the goose, leaned over the side 
of the pulpit, and, addressing the officer of the churcfi, 

said, "R , put out the goose." The functionary, 

not observing the presence of the feathered parishioner, 
and supposing that he meant the music-blunderer, 
marched up and collared him, saying at the time, "Come 
out o' that, fallow. " 



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230 



John H.uss. 



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Singing' in the Flames of Martyrdom. 

tOHN HUSS, the martyr, could truthfully say, that 
when shielded with Christ's blood and righteousness — 

" 'Mid flaming worlds in these arrayed, 
With joy shall I lift up my head. "' 

For his faithfulness in opposing the errors of Rome, 
and iii bringing about a revival of primitive Christianity 
he was sentenced to be burned alive July, 1415. 

A band of eight hundred soldiers, attended by an 
immense crowd of spectators, led him out of the city into 
a meadow as the place of execution. He was stripped 
of his priestly garments, and on his head was placed a 
mitre of paper, on which devils were painted, and the 
inscription, u A ring-leader of Heretics." 

When he came to the stake, he threw himself upon his 
knees, sung a psalm, and looking up to heaven, he prayed : 
" Into thy hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit. Thou 
hast redeemed me. Assist me that with a firm mind, 
by the most powerful grace, I may undergo this most 
awful death, to which I am condemned for preaching 
Thy most holy gospel, Amen." 

Bundles of wood and straw were piled around his bare 
feet, and when the chain was placed on his neck, he ex- 
claimed, " Welcome this chain for Christ's sake." As 
the faggots, at length, reached as high as his neck, he 
was called upon to recant, to which he replied, "No, no, 
what I taught I am willing to seal with my blood." 

As the fire was kindled and blazed up arouud him, 
ITuss sang a hymn with a loud voice, which was heard 
above the cracking, and roaring of the flames. 

Jerome of Prague, an associate of Huss, also followed 
in his footsteps, and suffered martyrdom. As the fag- 
ots began to blaze around him he sang the hymn "Hail, 
Festal Day" in a loud voice until he was suffocated. 




3i 



Edmund Jones, 



233 





Author of ''Come, humble sinner, in whose breast." 

ANY hymn writers have pro- 
duced but one choice hymn by 
which their names are remem- 
bered and revered. It was thus 
with Rev. Edmund Jones. 

Though he passed from earth 
over a century ago, his precious 
hymn still lives, and will 
doubtless live on as long as 
there are penitent sinners to 
whom the church would say : — 

" Come, humble sinner, in whose breast 
A thousand thoughts revolve, 
Come, with your guilt and fear oppress'd, 
And make this last resolve. "' 

In some collection of hymns the first line reads— 
11 Come, trembling sinner, in whose breast, " 
and the first line of the last verse is altered to read — 

" I cannot perish if 1 go, 

instead of — 

" I can but perish if I go. " 

He was born at Cheltenham, England, and born again 
early in life, as appears from the record given of him in 
the Baptist church at Upton-on-Severn. While young 
he was sent to Bristol to pursue his studies for the min- 
istry, under the Rev. Bernard Fosket. In his nineteenth 
year he was called to serve the Baptist church at Exeter 
on trial. His probation proving satisfactory, he was 
ordained in 1743. His church originally had no singing 
in divine service. It was first introduced in 1759. 

He spent the remaining twenty years of his life among 
this people, and added one hundred members to the 
church. He died April 15, 1765, aged forty-three years. 



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234 



Adoniram Judson. 




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Judson and his Hymns. 

DONIRAM JUDSON is a name that is luminous in 
! ep the history of early missions, and as he wrote a few 
hymns, he deserves a place in the list of hymn- 
writers. He was a son of a Congregational minister of the 
same name. His native place was Maiden, Massachusetts, 
where he was born, August 9, 1788. 

When but four years of age, he seemed to foreshadow 
his future career. Gathering the children of the neigh- 
borhood around him, he was wont to mount a chair, and 
go through a preaching service with marked earnestness. 
His favorite hymn upon these occasions was one of Watts's, 
commencing, 

"'Go, preach my gospel,' saith the Lord." 

During his course of studies at Providence college, a 
circumstance occurred that changed the whole future of his 

life. In his class was a young man named E , to whom 

he was warmly attached, and by whose influence he was 
led into professed infidelity, to the great grief of his de- 
voted parents. 

Starting out on a travelling tour at the close of his 
school, Judson assumed another name and joined a the- 
atrical company in New York. Whenever the thought 
of a mother's tears would occur, .he tried to soothe his 
conscience, by saying, " I am in no danger, I am only 
seeing the world, the dark side of it, as well as the bright." 
After a while, pursuing his journey westward, he stopped 
at a country inn. As the landlord took him to his bed- 
room, he said: "I am obliged to place you next door to 
a young man, who is exceedingly ill, probably in a dying 
state, but I hope it will occasion you no uneasiness." 

It proved, however, a very restless night; groans were 
frequently heard, and other sounds that made him think 
of Eternity. Alone, and in the dead of night, he felt 



ii 








te^ftsr-gur?^/ yz^xzC-rf o^ny 



Judson continued. 



237 



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the props of his infidelity give way. Then he would 
try to shame his fears, by thinking what his witty, clear- 
minded, intellectual E would say to such consummate 

boyishness. 

At last, morning came, and the bright flood of light, 
which poured into his chamber, dispelled all his super- 
stitious illusions. Going in search of the landloid, he 
made inquiry about his fellow-lodger. 

"He is dead," was the reply. "Dead!" "Yes, he 
is gone, poor fellow!" "Do you know who it was?" 
"O yes, it was a young man from Providence College — 
a very fine fellow, his name was E ." 

Judson was completely stunned. He knew not what 
to say or do. "Dead — Lost" were the two words that 
kept ringing in his head. He could go no further in 
his journey. This death-scene of his infidel companion, 
was the pivot on which turned his destiny, both for time 
and eternity. 

Judson afterwards entered the Theological Seminary 
at Andover, became a decided Christian, and after reading 
the "Star in the East," resolved to become a Missionary. 

After marrying Miss Ann H. Hasseltine, a young 
Christian ladv as earnest and devoted, as she was accom- 
plished and beautiftul, the two set sail for the realms of 
heathen darkness, on the 19th of February, 1812. 

Just as they were getting under way with their mis- 
sionary work at Ava, the Capital of Burmah, war broke 
out and Mr. Judson and others were violently seized 
as English spies and cast into the death prison. 

During nine months, he was stretched on the bare flour, 
bound by three pairs of iron fetters, and fastened to a 
long pole, to prevent his moving. This was during the 
hot season too, when he was shut up with a hundred 
prisoners in a room without any windows, or any appli- 
ances by which a breath of aircould be admitted, except 



y 



238 



Judson continued. 



through the cracks in the boards. They were all obliged 
to lie in a row upon the floor, without a mattress, or even 
so much as a wooden block, which they begged might be 
granted them for a pillow. His whole period of indescri- 
bable suffering continued for one year and seven months. 
Yet from this dark prison issued a hymn of praise that 
is now echoing- around this world in the psalmody of the 
church. Judson dates it, "Prison, Ava, March, 1825." 
It is a versification of the Lord's Prayer, and shows the 
thoughts and feelings that filled his heart during his long 
protracted agony. He says it is comprised in fewer words 
than the original Greek, and in only two more words than 
the common translation: — 

" Our Father, God, who art in heaven, 
All hallowed be thy name ; 
Thy kingdom come ; thy will be done 
In heaven and earth the same. 

" Give us this day our daily bread; 
And as we those forgive 
Who- sin against us, so may we 
Forgiving grace receive. 

u Into temptation lead us not ; 
From evil set us free ; 
And thine the kingdom, thine the power, 
And glory, ever be/' 

Who can read or sing this hymn without a faltering 
voice, or a tearful eye, after knowing the surrounding 
circumstances under which it was written? Surely it 
was a marvelous faith that could mingle with the rattling 
of prison chains, the glad sound of praise. 

We can easily imagine, how at one time, at least, it 
was with tremulous lips, that the author himself sang the 
words : 

" Give us, this day, our daily bread." 

His loving wife, knowing what the "daily bread" 
meant in such a prison, arranged, by means of some buf- 



C 



w 



Judson continued. 



239 






fklo meat and plantains, to get up a mince-pie, at least in 
appearance. But when it arrived in prison, its associa- 
tions brought so vividly to mind the old comforts of 
home, that he bowed his head upon his knees, and wept 
till the tears flowed down to the chains about his ankles. 
Through his flowing tears he saw the home of his boy- 
hood again, — his gentle mother, his revered father, his 
much loved sister and brother around the noonday meal. 
His heart was too full to partake of the delicious morsel, 
and so he thrust it into the hand of an associate. 

In this time of trial he addressed thirty stanzas to his 
infant daughter, who, when twenty days old, was brought 
into prison to receive a father's kiss. The lines began, 

"Sleep, darling infant, sleep, 

Hushed on thy mother's breast; 
Let no rude sound of clankering chains, 
Disturb thy balmy rest." 

And yet after passing through all these privations and 

painful experiences, he could brush away his tears, and 

write: — 

" Sovereign love appoints the measure, 
And the number of our pains, 
And is pleased when we take pleasure 
In the trials he ordains." 

In 1850, Judson's health had so broken down, that 
his only hope for restoration was a protracted sea voyage. 
On the 3rd of April, he embarked on a vessel, bound to 
the Isle of France. Nine days later, while out at sea, he 
breathed his last, and all that was mortal of Dr. Judson, 
was committed to the ocean's deep, where his dust is rocked 
by the mighty billows, till, to sea and land, God's angel 
shall declare "that there should be time no longer. " 

Judson wrote two other hymns generally found in 
Baptist hymn books, commencing, 

" Come, Holy Spirit, Dove divine," 

" Our Saviour bowed beneath the wave." 




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240 



John Keble. 




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"Sun of my Soul, Thou Saviour dear, 
It is not night if Thou be near. " 



AILY at family worship, and often in the sanctuary, 
ascends the incense of praise in the language of this 
precious hymn. 

It was penned by Rev. John Keble, who was born 
April 25, 1792, in Fairford, England. He received his 
early education from his father, who had, for fifty years, 
charge of the Episcopal church in this quiet village, that 
lies embedded among the celebrated Coteswold Hills. 

At fourteen he entered the Corpus Christi College, 
where he obtained the highest honors ever attained be- 
fore by one so young. 

In 1815 he entered the ministry, in 1831 he was 
elected professor of poetry at Oxford, where he remained 
for ten years, and in 1835 became rector of the Hursley 
Church. 

He wrote a poem on Mahomet when but sixteen years 
old. The two monuments on which rests his fame as a 
Christian poet are, "The Christian Year," and "Lyra 
Innocentium. " Of the former, ninety-six editions were 
published during his lifetime, — a fact which is said to be 
"unprecedented in the annals of literature." Dr. Ar- 
nold, speaking of his hymns, says, "The wonderful 
knowledge of Scripture, the purity of heart, and the rich- 
ness of poetry which they exhibit, I never saw par- 
alleled." His church was open for daily morning and 
evening prayer. "Night and day he was unwearied in 
his ministrations to the sick, the poor, the afflicted. On 
many a dark evening he was seen, lantern in hand, wend- 
ing his way to some distant cottage, with words of cheer. 
Though a man of fine scholarly tastes and culture, he 
was so meek and unassuming, that the poor looked up 
to him as their best friend." He died March, 1866. 




ll 




JOHN KEBLE. 



Thomas Kelley. 



243 



1& 



Kelley and his Hymns. 

r^ 

(\: HE " Green Isle " has never furnished a greater or 
® more prolific hymn-writer than Thomas Kelley. He 
was born in 1769, and was the son of Judge Kelley 
of Kelley ville, Ireland. 

Thoughts of eternity impressed him early in life, but 
it was not till after he had completed his university 
studies at Dublin, that he found peace in believing. 
After being awakened through the perusal of Romaine's 
writings, he was in ^*eat distress, and, in various forms 
of self-punishment, sought to merit salvation. When 
at length he comprehended the new and living way, he 
became very zealous in proclaiming it to others. In 
1793, he was ordained in the Established Church, but 
being restricted in his evangelistic efforts, he afterward 
united with the Independents. Crowds flocked around 
him wherever he lifted up the standard of the cross. 
Possessed of ample means, he built quite a number of 
churches. While he preached at many places, his main 
charge was in Dublin, where he broke the bread of 
life for sixty-three years. 

Mr. Kelly was quite a scholar, and was well versed in 
the Oriental tongues. He was also a good musician, and 
prepared a book of music to accompany his hymn- 
book, which was entitled, "Hymns on Various Pas- 
sages of Scripture." The first edition was issued in 
1801, and contained but ninty-six hymns, but so prolific 
was his pen, that in the seventh edition, issued in 1853, 
the number of his hymns had increased to seven hundred 
and sixty-seven. 

While in the act of preaching, he was stricken down 
with paralysis, and died the following year, 1855, eighty- 
six years of age. His last words were, " Not my will, 
but Thine be done." 




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2U 



Thomas Ken. 



c 



"Praise God from whom All Blessings flow. " 

§HIS doxology appeared as the last verse of the 
"'Morning and Evening Hymns " added to the 
" Manuel of Prayers," by Bishop Ken in 1697. The 
morning hymn commences, 

"Awake my soul, and with the sun. " 

The evening hymn, 

" Glory to thee, my God, this night. " 

The " Morning Hymn " was very dear to its author, 
who used often to sing it in the early morning to the 
accompaniment of his lute. 

Bishop Ken was born at Berkhampsted, England, in 
1637. He was appointed chaplain to the Princes of Or-> 
ange, 1669. In 1684, to King Charles II. In 1685, to 
James II. 

When the kino; ordered him to read the well-known 
Declaration of Indulgence, he conscientiously refused to 
comply, for which he was imprisoned in the Tower. 

Montgomery says of the doxology, " It is a master- 
piece at once of amplification and compression: amplifi- 
cation, on the burden, ' Praise God,' repeated in each 
line; compression, by exhihiting God as the object of 
praise in every view in which we can imagine praise due 
to Him ; praise for all His blessings, yea, for all bless- 
ings, ' none coming from any other source,~praise, by 
every creature, specifically invoked, 'here below,' and in 
heaven ' above;' praise to Him in each of the characters 
wherein He has revealed Himself in His word, i Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost." 

" Yet this comprehensive verse is sufficiently simple 
that, by it, 'out of the mouths of babes and sucklings,' 
God may 'perfect praise;' and it appears so easy 
that one is tempted to think hundreds of the sort might 





BISHOP KEN. 

A FAC SIMILE OF AN OLD Wood ENGRAVING 



Ken continued. 



247 



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be made without trouble. The reader has only to try, and 
he will be quickly undeceived : the longer he tries, the 
more difficult he will find the task to be." 

This doxology daily echoes around the globe and prob- 
ably has been more used than any other composition. in 
the world with the exception of the Lord's Prayer, and 
it will, no doubt, continue to be till time shall be 
no more. " It has been said that Bishop Ken was accus- 
tomed to remark that it would enhance his joy in heav- 
en to listen to his morning and evening hymns as sung 
by the faithful on earth. " Whitfield says, that the hymns 
of Ken were of great benefit to his soul when ten years old. 

An impressive scene occurred in 1858, at Andover, 
where they were having a great gathering at the collegi- 
ate dinner table. Unexpectedly it was announced that 
the telegraphic cable across the ocean was successful, 
when, it is said that " a thousand gentlemen spontaneously 
arose, and, in the majestic sounds of i Old Hundred ' sang" 
the soul inspiring strain :— 

" Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. " 

Ken died as he was on a journey to Bath, in March 
1711, in the 74th year of his age. He had been in 
the habit of travelling for many years with his shroud 
in his port-manteau, which he always put on when at- 
tacked by sickness. Of this he gave notice the day before 
his death, in order to prevent his body from being 
stripped. He was never married. 

In accordance with his own request, he was buried at 
sunrise. His morning hymn was sung as his body sank 
in the grave. His death was calm and peaceful, exem- 
plifying his words :- 

" Teach me to live, that T may dread, 
The grave as little as my bed. " 




248 



Ken continued. 



The Grave of Ken. 



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fISHOP KEN'S physician, Dr. Merewether, made 
the following entry in his diary for the year 1711 : — 
"March 16th, — I went to Longleate, to visit Bishop 
Ken. 

"March 18th, — I waited on him again. 
"March 19th, — All glory be to God. Between 5 
and 6 in y e morning. Thomas, late Bishop of Bath and 
Wells, died at Longleate." 

Bishop Ken was buried aside of the eastern window 
in the parish church of Frome. The iron pales that 
fence the mound indicate in the picture opposite the 
resting-place of the dust of him who penned the immortal 
doxology. 

" On yonder heap of earth forlorn, 

Where Ken his place of burial chose, 
Peacefully shine, Sabbath morn ! 
And, eve, with gentlest hush, repose. 
"To him is rear'd no marble tornb, 
Within the dim catliedral-fane, 
But some faint flowers of summer, bloom, 
And silent falls the winter's rain. 
"No village monumental stone 

Records a verse, a date, a name? 
What boots it? When thy task is done, ■ 

Christian, how vain the sound of Fame ! 
" Oh, far more grateful to tliy God 
The voices of poor children rise, 
Who hasten o'er the dewy sod, 
'To pay their morning sacrifice.' 

"And can we listen to their hymns, 

Heard, haply, when the evening knell 
Sounds, where the village tower is dim, 
As if to bid the world farewell, 

"Without a thought, that from the dust 
The morn shall wake the sleeping clay, 
And bid the faithful and the just 
Up spring to heaven's eternal day!" 



w 



H3 
EG 
68 

o 

68 
O 

B8 

a! 



> 

-5 

K 
O 




Ken continued. 



251 



Ken was fond of children, and they of him. A pleas- 
ing fact is recorded, and adverted to in the preceding 
verses, that after his lips could no longer sing his morning 
hymn, the children took up the strain, and, at early morn, 
encircling his tomb, would re-echo it over his silent grave. 

Rev. W. L. Bowles says, ' in his biography of Ken : 

" It is interesting to think, that when, to this day, 
(1831) the same words of Ken are sung to the same 
tune, every Sunday, by the parish church of Frome, 
they are sung over the grave of him, who composed the 
words, and who had sung them himself, to the same air, 
over one hundred and sixty years before, though he now 
lies in the church-yard without an inscription." 

The following verses were originally wedded to the 
old tune of Talis, and were sung as a Morning Hymn, 
in the Winchester school that Ken attended. 

To his poetic and musical ear, the sound of the un- 
couth poetry, and the want of harmony between the words 
and tune, suggested, it is supposed, the preparation of 
his Morning Hymn and the Doxology. These were 
to take the place of these crude stanzas, and w T ere specially 
adapted, amd for over a century afterwards, sung to the 
same tune of Talis. 

Our readers will agree with us that some substitute 
was needed after reading the following: — 

"Praise the Lord, ye Gentiles all, 

Which hath brought you into this light ; 
Oh praise him all people mortal, 
As is most worthy and right. 
" For he is full determined 

On us to pour out his mercy ; 
And the Lords truth, be ye assured 
Abideth perpetually. 

" Glory be to God, the Father, 

And to Jesus Christ his true Son, 
With the Holy Ghost, in like manner, 
Now, and at every season." 



c 



252 



Ken continued. 




c: 



Kens Morning Hymn. 

fAWKINS informs us, that Ken "seemed to go to 
rest with no other purpose than the refreshing and 
enabling him with more vigour and cheerfulness to 
sing his Morning Hymn, as he used to do, to his lute, 
before he put on his clothes." 

This fact adds additional interest to these words: — 

"Awake, my soul! and, with t'.e sun, 
Thy daily stage of duty run ; 
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise, 
To pay thy morning sacrifice." 

One morning, Ken had special reason to praise God, 
in this language of his morning hymn : — 

" All praise to thee, who safe hast kept, 
And hast refreshed me while I slept." 

This will appear from what he says in the following 
quaint letter, which we give in its original form: — 

" ALL GLORY BE TO GOD." 

"My Good L d and B r : 

"The same post w ch brought me your Lordshipp's, 
brought the news of y e Occasionall Bills being throwne 
out by y e Lords. I think I omitted to tell you y e full of 
my deliverance in y e late storme, for the house being 
surveyed y e day following, y e workmen found y' y e beame 
w eh supported y e roof over my head was broken out to 
y' degree, y fc it had but half an inch hold, so y l it was a 
wonder it would hold together; for w ch signall and par- 
ticular preservation God's holy name be ever praised ! 
I am sure I ought alwayes thankfully to remember it. 

"Your Lordshipp's most affec e friend and B r , 
"Bath, Nov. 18." "Ken." 

" For M rs Hannah Lloyd, at M r Hawling's, 
a grocer, over against Sommersett-house, 
London." 



w 



Ken continued. 



253 



*Sf 



Ken's Imprisonment and Retirement. 

j|N 1684, Ken was appointed bishop of Bath and Wells. 
^ After four years of fruitful service, he was willing: to 
go to prison, rather than read the famous "Declara- 
tion of indulgence/' that was introduced by James II. 
to favor his Roman Catholic friends. In the course of 
two months, he was acquitted by a jury. 

A cotemporary says: "When he and the other six 
bishops were released from their imprisonment, the 
universal joy was so great as to be heard many miles 
distant; and the shout given at their deliverance in 
"Westminster-hall, had almost the effect upon the windows 
at Lambeth, as the discharge of a cannon gives. 
Bishop Ken came with the Arch Bishop of Canterbury 
in his coach to Lambeth, which took them up several 
hours, and the concourse of people was innumerable 
the whole way, hanging upon the coach, and in- 
sisting upon being blessed by these two prelates, who, 
with much difficulty and patience, at last got to Lambeth- 
house." 

Again in 1691, having conscientiously refused to give 
in his allegiance to the new government, he was, as non- 
juror, deprived of his Episcopal emoluments. 

With his "lame horse," which is described as a "sorry 

one," his famous lute, his little Greek Testament, and 

his shroud, he bade adieu to the weeping friends of his 

diocese and retired to the hospitable home, extended to 

him at Longleat, the seat of Viscount Weymouth, and 

there spent the last twenty years of his earthly career. 

"Dead to all else, alive to God alone, 
Ken, the confessor meek, abandons nower, 
Palace, and mitre, and cathedral throne, 
(A shroud alone reserved, ) and in the bower 
Of meditation hallows every hour." 

When, thirteen years later, Queen Ann granted him 



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1 



254 



Ken continued. 



r 



a yearly pension of 200 L, and sent it to him through 
his successor in office, he acknowledged the receipt of it, 
in this letter: — 

" ALL GLORY BE TO GOD." 

"My Good Lord : 

"Your Lordshipp gave me a wonderful surprise 
when you informed me y' y e Queen had been pleased to 
settle a very liberall pension on me. I beseech God to 
accumulate the blessings of both lives on her Majesty, for 
royall bounty to me, so j^erfectly free and. unexpected; 
and I beseech God abundantly to reward my Lord 
Treasurer, who inclined her to be thus gracious to me, 
and to give him a plentiful measure of wisdome from 
above. 

"My Lord, lett it not shock your native modesty, if 
I make this just acknowledgement, y* though y e sense I 
have of her Majesty's favour in y e pension is deservedly 
great, yet her choosing you for my successor gave me 
much more satisfaction; as my concerne for y e eternal 1 
welfare of y e flock, exceeded all regard for my owne 
temporall advantage. 

"Your Lordshipp's most affectionate 
"Friend and B r . 
"June 7th, 1704. "Tho. Ken, L. B. & W." 

The shaded groves surrounding his retreat were made 
vocal, with the echo of his morning and evening hymns, 
and with much emphasis he could say: — 

"I, the small dolorous remnant of my days, 

Devote to hymn my great Redeemer's praise; 
Aye, nearer as I draw towards the heavenly rest, 
The more I love the employment of the blest." 
His evening hymn commenced originally, "All praise 
to thee, my God, this night," instead of "Glory to thee," 
&c, as now in use. Nearly all his letters were headed 
" All glory be to God." It is said, these w r ere his last words. 



1 



Ken's doxology. 



255 




" Glory to Thee, my God, this night." 

HIS hymn of Bishop Ken, says Stevenson in his 
S! " Associations/' was the dying song of Roger Miller, 

once a drunken copperplate printer of London, after- 
ward a city missionary in Broad wall, Lambeth, where he 
labored long and usefully amongst the profligate and 
destitute. On the death of his mother, in 1847, Mr. 
Miller left London for Manchester, to attend her funeral. 
It was near midnight, when, as the train approached 
Wolverton, an accident occurred: the train ran off the 
lines, and several were killed. Mr. Miller had a few 
moments before united with the other passengers in 
singing the "Evening hymn," that they might close 
the day with a devotional song. The praises of the pas- 
sengers arose amidst the noise of the rushing train, and 
most seemed heartly to join. How appropriate the 
words as contained in the third verse : — 

"Teach me to live, that I may dread 
The grave as little as my bed ; 
Teach me to die, that so I may 
Rise glorious at the awful day." 

The music of their voices became, with one, at least, in 
that company, blended with the hallelujahs of the re- 
deemed, for Roger Miller was hurried in an instant to 
glory. 

If all the impressive incidents thus associated with 
the hymns of Bishop Ken can be reported to him in 
Heaven, lie certainly realizes in full, the joy anticipated, 
and expressed in the following stanza : — 

" And should the well-meant song I leave behind, 
AVith Jesus' lovers some acceptance find, 
'Twill heighten even the joys of heaven to know 

That, in my verse, saints sing God's praise below. " 



r 



256 



Ken, continued. 




The Doxology in Libby Prison. 



dH^9 



90 



||EV. W. F. CRAFTS gives the following narrative 
vsb as from the lips of Chaplain MeCabe, in relation to 
the starving " boys in blue. " while incarcerated in 
Libby Prison : — 

" Day after day they saw comrades passing away, and 
their number increased by fresh, living recruits for the 
grave. One night about ten o'clock, through the stillness 
and the darkness, they heard the tramp of coming feet, 
that soon stopped before the prison door until arrange- 
ments could be made inside. 

"In the company was a young Baptist minister, whose 
heart almost fainted as he looked on those cold walls and 
thought of the suffering inside. Tired and weary he sat 
down, put his face in his hands and wept. Just then a 
lone voice sung out from an upper window : — 

" ' Praise God from -whom all blessings flow ; ' 
and a dozen manly voices joined in the second line: — 
" ' Praise Him all creatures here below ; ' 

and then bv the time the third was reached, more than 
a score of hearts were full, and these joined to send the 
words on high: — 

'"Praise Him above ye heavenly host;' 

and by this time the prison was all alive, and seemed to 
quiver with the sacred song, as from every room and 
cell those brave men sang: — 

" < Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ' 

As the song died out on the still night that enveloped 
in darkness the doomed city of Richmond, the young 
man arose and happily said : — 

"'Prisons would palaces prove. 

If Jesus would dwell with me there.'" 



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Ken's doxology continued. 



257 



The Doxology Sung Thirty Five Times in one Day. 

tTEVENSON records the fact that during a season 
of revival in London, the church was accustomed to 
sing the doxology at each time the report was given 
of a new case of conversion. During one day they had 
occasion to repeat it thus thirty five different times, as 
one and another had been added as trophies of the cross. 
He says that a twelve miles' walk after that day's ser- 
vice, during the snow of a cold February, did not dissi- 
pate the blessed memory of that memorable day. 

The Doxology Sung 'Mid Tears of Joy. 

fEV. DR. TAYLOR states the following fact:— 
"In the great cotton famine in England, which 
desolated Lancashire for long and weary months, the 
conduct of the operatives was the admiration of the 
world. There were no riots and no excess of crimes. The 
people, men and women, went into the Sunday school 
houses and prayed. They had been taught to do so, and 
they were upheld in the time of trial by the truths they 
had learned. When the first wagon load of cotton ar- 
rived, the people unhooked the horses and drew it them- 
selves, and surrounding it began to sing. What do you 
think they sang? They sang the grand old doxology 
while the tears came flowing down their cheeks: — 

" Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. " 

fETITIA OAKES, at the advanced age of eighty 
five, passed away, and with her dying breath, whis- 
pered the doxology : — 

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow," 

and while the words were still on her lips she ceased to 
breathe. 




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1) 



258 



Hymn by E. 31. Long, 



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PRAISE TO THE TRINITY. 



Soft and subdued. 



Words and Music by Rev. E. M. Long. 




1 Heavenly Fath - er, 

2 Pre - cious Sa - viour, 
:i Ho - ly Spir - it, 



we thy chil-dren meet, Meet to gath - er 

in our midst ap - pear, Smile with fa - vor, 

move, and melt each heart, "While we wor-ship, 



J> r »rf — \Z 1 m M* m 



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** * 



*rz3*Z 



:p=P= 



p-f^E 



Refrain. 




round thy mer-cy 

draw thou ver - y 

life and love im 





=jt=}S=z!E 



=Ji=J5: 



:i=«ES 



U*- 



Glo-ry be to thee for - ev 

:g- -p- -r- -f- -r -r rg- 

-w — m — m — w — tm m — F — 



Glo-ry be to thee, thou 



v u > u & 



pprit. 



Final Ending. 




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Venerable Bede. 



259 



" Praise to the Trinity." 

fLEVEN hundred years ago there ascended to the 
skies, the venerable Bede, whose last song on earth 
was "Praise to the Trinity." He was born about 
the year 672. Having become an orphan in early life 
he was trained in a monastery. He was justly distin- 
guished for his piety and learning. Among the volumes 
that he wrote, was a " A Book of Hymns in Several Sorts 
of Metre or Rhyme/' and a " Book of the Art of Poetry." 

One of his pupils thus describes his last days: "He 
lived joyfully, giving thanks to God day and night; every 
day he gave lessons to us, his pupils, and the rest of the 
time he occupied in chanting psalms. He was awake 
almost the whole night, and spent it in joy and thanks- 
giving: and when he awoke from his short sleep, imme- 
diately he raised his hands on high, and began again to 

give thanks And when he came to the words, 

* leave us not orphaned behind Thee/ he burst into tears. 

"Then in an hour he began to sing again. We wept 
with him; sometimes we read, sometimes we wept, but 
we could not read without tears. " 

His last effort was to translate the Gospel of John 
into Anglo-Saxon. He kept dictating to an amanuensis, 
bidding him write faster and faster, until death drew near. 

At last his attendant said: "Dearest master, there is 
only one thought left to wiite. " He answered, "Write 
quickly." Soon the answer was, that it was written, 
when he replied: "Raise my head in thy hand, for it will 
do me good to sit opposite my sanctuary, where I was 
wont to kneel down to pray, that sitting I may call upon 
my Father." While thus seated, with his eyes turned 
toward the courts of the Lord, he sang: "Glory to Thee, 
O God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;" and when he 
had named the Holy Ghost he breathed his last breath. 




c 



w 



260 



Kens doxology. 



The Doxology Heard a Mile. 

tN 1859, we had an extensive revival at Pottsville 
Pa., under the " Union Tabernacle. " 

We had four services daily for seven weeks. Hun- 
dreds had professed penitence, and as many had beeu re- 
ceived into the different churches, the pastors thought it 
would be pleasant to close this series of meetings with 
a grand union service. Twelve churches responded to the 
invitation representing ten different denominations. 

Pottsville is surrounded by many smaller towns, two 
three, and four miles distant. From these came bands of 
Christians, singing the songs of Zion. So that as the set- 
ting sun was gilding the mountains, the hills overlook- 
ing the city were made to re-echo with the sentiments 
of hymns such as, 

Come we that love the Lord, 
And let our joys be known, " 

and 

4t Children of the Heavenly King, 
As we journey sweetly sing. " 

We had, by means of extra canvass, extended our 
Tabernacle, that ordinarily held several thousands, so 
that it covered an immense mass of human beings. One 
pastor estimated the number present at seven thousand. 

Some fourteen hundred professed Christians took part 
in the exercises that were conducted in the English, Ger- 
man and Welsh languages. As we closed by singing the 
Doxology, the immense volume of sound arose so grand- 
ly in the calm evening air, that when the request was 
made that it be repeated, it was sung with hearts over- 
flowing with gladness, eyes swimming in tears of joy, so 
that at a distance of a mile, a household distinctly 
heard the words :- 

" Praise- God, from whom all blessings flow." 



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W 



Francis S Key's hymn. 



261 




A Hymn by the Author of ' 'Star-Spangled Banner. " 

N some of the different church 
collections of hymns may be 
found one beginning, — 

" If life's pleasures charm thee, 
Give them not thy heart, 
Lest the gift ensnare thee 
From thy God to part. 
His favors seek, 
His praises speak, 
Fix here thy hopes' foundation; 
Serve Him. and He 
Will ever be 
The Rock of thy salvation. " 

It came from the pen of the author of the well-known 
"Star-Spangled Banner;" and, if the last-named com- 
position shows the graceful patriot, the hymn certainly 
displays the Christian. This was still further manifested 
in a scene about the year 1835. as thus described by the 
clergyman officially engaged. He says, "I stood within 
the railing, at the side of the communion-table, and had 
administered the sacred elements to all, it seemed, who 
desired to partake of them. ■ Just then, however, as 
though previously restrained by profound humility, a 
stranger approached the altar, knelt all alone, and so re- 
ceived the holy memorials of our Saviour's suffering and 
death. 

" I trust that the service was one of true faith, and the 
result was one of great peace and comfort. That last 
communicant was the same person, — the distinguished 
poet, the accomplished lawyer and orator, the modest 
Christian, Francis S. Key." 

Belcher's Historical Sketches. 




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$) 



262 



Martin Luther, 




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Luther and his Hymns. 

tlGURES can tell the immensity of space through 
which a rolling world makes its orbit, but who can 
decipher the circuit of that influence which encircles 
the centuries of time and the ages of eternity. The hymn- 
writing of Luther and his co-laborers, set in motion such 
a train of results, that no mortal pen can describe. It 
was the lever that moved the world of German mind. 
"The whole people," said a Catholic of that period, 
"is singing itself into this Lutheran doctrine." The 
Romanist had good reason for this assertion. Coleridge 
says: "Luther did as much for the Reformation by his 
hymns as by the translation of the Bible." During the 
time when Luther was most busy composing his hymns, 
four printers in Erfurt alone were kept at work in print- 
ing and publishing them. They seemed to fly all over 
the land, as if on the wings of the wind. 

Writing to his friend Spalatin, he says: "It is my 
intention, after the example of the prophets and the 
ancient fathers, to make German psalms lor the people; 
that is, spiritual songs, whereby the Word of God may 
be kept alive among them by singing. We seek, there- 
fore, everywhere for poets. Now, as you are such a mas- 
ter of the German tongue, and are so mighty and eloquent 
therein, I entreat you to join hands with us in the work." 

The second hymn that Luther wrote proved to be very 
popular in his day. A cotemporary says : " Who doubts 
not that many hundred Christians have been brought to 
the true faith by this one hymn alone, who before, per- 
chance, could not so much as bear to hear Luther's name. 
But his sweet and noble words have so taken their hearts 
that they were constrained to come to the truth." 

A singular use was made of this hymn in 1557. A 
number of princes, connected with the reformed religion, 



1/ 



Luther continued. 



265 



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having met at Frankford, arranged to have an evangeli- 
cal service in the Church of St. Bartholomew. But a 
cunning Roman Catholic priest occupied the pulpit, and 
proceeded to preach in accordance with his own views. 
After enduring his remarks for a while, in "indignant 
silence," the whole congregation rose and drowned his 
voice by singing this hymn, and in this they persisted 
till they sang the affrighted priest out of church. We 
give herewith the first of the ten verses of this hymn, 
as translated by Catherine Winkworth : — 

"Dear Christian people, now rejoice! 

Our hearts within us leap, 
While we, as with one soul and voice, 

With love and gladness deep, 
Tell how our God beheld our need, 
And sing that sweet and wondrous deed, 

That hath so dearly cost Him. 

Luther calls hymns "a miniature Bible." He wrote 
thirty-seven, " which are to be .weighed, not counted." 
He also composed music adapted to many of his hymns. 
After dinner, it is said, that whether at home or abroad, 
he was accustomed "to take a lute and sing and play for 
half an hour or more with his friends." It is therefore 
no wonder that he declaied, "He who despises music, 
as all fanatics do, will never be my friend." In seeking 
to have all children taught to sing, he says :" I would 
fain see all arts, specially music, in the service of Him, 
who has given and created them." To so great an extent 
were the Reformers singers, that "psalm singer" and 
"heretic" became synonymous. Thus the great Re- 
former was also the great singer of the church, giving the 
hymn book, as well as the Bible to the people. 

Luther was born at Eisleben, Nov. 10, 1483. He 
was the soli of humble but pious parents. Even in early 
life his voice was tuned to hymu the Redeemer's praise, 
as will be seen from the following incident: — 




266 



Martin Luther. 



Luther's Snow Song. 



§N a cold, dark night, when the wind was blowing 
hard, Conrad, a worthy citizen of a little town in 
Germany, sat playing his flute, while Ursula, his 
wife was preparing supper. They heard a sweet voice 
singing outside : 

" Foxes to their holes have gone, 
Every bird into its nest ; 
But I wander here alone, 
And for me there is no rest. " 

Tears filled the good man's eyes, as he said, " What a 
pity it should be spoiled by being tried in such weather. " 

" I think it is the voice of a child. Let us open the 
door and see, " said his wife, who had lost a little boy not 
long before, and whose heart was opened to take pity on 
the little wanderer. 

Conrad opened the door, and saw a ragged child, who 
said : 

" Charity, good sir, for Christ's sake." 

" Come in, my little one, " said he. " You shall rest 
with me for the night. " 

The boy said, " Thank God ! " and entered. The heat 
of the room made him faint, but Ursula's kind care soon 
restored him. They gave him some supper, and then he 
told them that he was ths son of a poor miner, and want- 
ed to be a priest. He wandered about and sang, and 
lived on the money people gave him. His kind friends 
would not let him talk much, but sent him to bed. 

When he was asleep they looked in upon him, and 
were so pleased with his pleasant countenance that they 
c'etermined to keep him, if he was willing. In the 
morning they found that he was only too glad to remain. 

They sent him to school, and afterward he entered the 



C 




LI TIIER S STREET SONG. 



Luther continued. 



269 




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monastery. There he found the Bible, which he read 
and from which he learned the way of life. The little 
voice of the little singer became the strong echo of the 
good news, " Justified by faith, we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ. " Conrad and Ursula 
when they took that little singer into their house, little 
thought that then they were nourishing the great champ- 
ion °of Reformation. The poor child was Martin 
Luther ! " Be not forgetful to entertain strangers. y ' 

The following is the whole of the song which Luther 
sang on that memorable night : 

I ord of heaven ! lone and sad, 
I would lift my soul to thee ; 
Pilgrim in a foreign land, 
Gracious Father, look on me. 
I shall neither faint nor die 
While I walk beneath thin^ eye. 

I will stay my faith on thee. 
And will never fear to tread 
Where the Savior-Mas er leads ; 
He will give me daily bread. 
Christ was hungry. Christ was poor 
He will feed me from his store. 

Foxes to their ho'es have gone, 
Every bird into its nest; 
But I wander here alone,' 
And for me there is no rest ; 
Yet I neither faint nor fear, 
For the Savior-Christ is near. 

If I live he'll be near me, 

If I die to him I go ; 

He'll not leave me, I will trust him, 

And my heart no fear shall know. 

Sin and sorrow I defy, 

For on Jesus I rely. 




270 



Luther continued. 



Coburg- Castle and Luther's Hymn. 

OBURG is a small city in Germany, and is one of 
the chief ducal residences. This old castle of the 
dukes stands on a height that rises more than five 
hundred feet above the town. It is still a place of 
strength, and contains a large collection of armor. But 
the chief attractions to visitors are the rooms and the bed 
which Luther occupied, and the pulpit from which he 
preached,* nearly three and a half centuries ago. 

The time of Luther's sojourn here was in the year 
1530, during the meeting of the diet at Augsburg, when 
the great confession of the Protestant church was deliv- 
ered. While Melanchthon and other theologians, togeth- 
er with the Elector, went to the diet, they left Luther 
on the way in the refuge afforded by the strong castle 
at Coburg, where he could easily be reached by letter. 

As Luther had, nine years before called "Wurtemburg 
Castle his Patmos, so he named this his Sinai; but in 
writing to Melancthon, he said he would make it a Zion. 
Here he remained nearly six months, laboring and 
praying for the kingdom of Christ; one of his principal 
occupations being the translation of the Bible into the 
German langjuagje. 

It is said that during the diet, when great dangers 
threatened the church, he would daily go to the window 
of the castle, look up toward heaven and sing with great 
energy his celebrated hymn of faith: — 

" A mighty fortress is our God." 

Some writers have even maintained that this hymn was 
written at Coburg; but it is traceable to a date a year 
earlier. This hymn may well be associated with castles. 
It seems itself a grand tower of strength. It is founded 
on the forty-sixth Psalm, which opens with those words 
of power: "God is our lefuge and strength." 



C: 



H 

BB 
W 

O 
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CO 

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► 

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Luther } s hymn. 



273 




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.A Nobleman Brought in his Right Mind by Singing. 

• 

HUNGARIAN nobleman lost a daughter whom lie 
most tenderly loved. The circumstances of her death 
greatly aggravated his grief, and he became quite 
uncontrollable in his mental derangement. Every means 
was tried which wealth or influence could devise or secure 
to restore him, but without effect. Lying on his couch 
in a room draped with black, from which the light was 
excluded, he neither smiled or wept, and joy seemed for- 
ever to have fled from his breast. 

At length it was proposed that Mara, who was noted 
for her vocal performances, should sing within hearing 
of the afflicted father, whose grief had now nearly worn 
him down to the grave. Handel's " Messiah" was cho- 
sen for the experiment, and in an adjoining room that 
sweet and marvellous voice began its almost more than 
human strains. At first it had no apparent effect on the 
nobleman. As she proceeded he slowly raised himself 
from his couch to listen, and the heart that had been 
dead to emotion began to swell with the rising tide. When 
she came to the passage, "Look and see if there be any 
sorrow like to my sorrow," that was rendered with a sub- 
dued pathos, which brought tears in the eyes of those 
present, sighs escaped the suffering father, and soon the 
tears followed, and then rising from his couch, he fell 
upon his knees, and by the time the full choir struck the 
hallelujah chorus, his voice united with theirs, and his 
spirit was free. This was a striking illustration of Lu- 
ther's stanzas : — 

" Whore friends and comrades sing in tune, 
All evil passions vanish soon ; 
Hate, anger, envy cannot stay, 
All gloom and heartache melt away, 
The lust of wealth, the cares that cling, 
Are all forgotten while we sing." 




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274 



Francis Lyte. 




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Author of " Jesus, I my cross have taken. " 

§HIS hymn of consecration was written by Rev. Hen- 
ry Francis Lyte, and was first published in 1833, in 
a volume of " Poems Chiefly Religious. " 

He was born at Kelso, Scotland, June 1, 1793. 

While receiving a liberal education at Trinity college, 
Dublin, he struggled hard with poverty. 

Lyte speaks of himself as having been worldly-mind- 
ed, and a stranger to experimental religion, until 1818, 
three years after he had entered the ministry of the 
Church of England. His eyes were opened while at 
the death-bed of a neighboring clergyman, who had sent 
for him in great agony, because he was "unpardoned 
and unprepared to die. " As they joined in the search 
of the Scriptures to find out the way of salvation, they 
both entered into the rest of faith while perusing the 
writings of St. Paul. 

" I was greatly affected, " says Lyte, " by the whole 
matter, and brought to look at life, and its issues with a 
different eye than before; and I began to study my Bi- 
ble, and preach in another manner than I had previously 
done." 

Of the departure of his friend, he says, " he died happy 
under the belief that, though he deeply erred, there was 
One whose death and sufferings would atone for all de- 
linquencies, and He accepted for all that he had in- 
curred." In 1823, he took charge of a church at 
Brixham, where he wrote most of his hymns. 

Amongst this " busy, shrewd, somewhat rough, but 
warm-hearted population of a fishing coast, and sea- 
faring district/' he spent some twenty-four years of 
zealous, faithful labor. Here " he made hymns for his 
little ones, and hymns for his hardy fishermen, and hymns 
for sufferers like himself." 



1/ 



Lyte continued. 



275 




r 



He gathered a Sunday school of several hundred schol- 
ars, and trained a band of some seventy teachers to teach 
them. Jn 1834, he published the "Spirit of the 
Psalms," a metrical version of the same; and in 1846, 
the "Poems of Henry Vaughan, with a Memoir." 

His health failing, he was advised to journey to the 
South. Of this, said he: "They tell me that the sea is 
injurious to me. I hope not; for I know of no divorce 
I should more deprecate than from the ocean. From 
childhood it has been my friend and playmate, and 
never have I been weary of gazing on its glorious face. 
Besides, if I cannot live by the sea, adieu to poor Berry 
Head — adieu to the wild birds, and wild flowers, and 
all the objects that have made my old residence so at- 
tractive." After a little, he adds, "I am meditating 
flight ag;ain to the south. The little faithful robin is 
every morning at my window, sweetly warning me that 
autumnal hours are at hand. The swallows are pre- 
pering for flight, and inviting me to accompany them; 
and yet, alas! while I talk of flying, I am just able to 
crawl, and ask myself whether I shall be able to leave 
England at all." 

In this time of trial and weakness, how appropriate 
and expressive the language of one of his hymns : — 



" Whate'er events betide, 

Thy will they all perform; 
Safe in Thy breast my head I hide, 
Nor fear the coming storm. 

" Let good or ill befal, 

It must be good for me ; 

Secure of having Thee in all, 

Of having all in '1 hee. " 



In the autumn of 1847, before starting out on this, 
his last journey, he penned the lines of the following 
hymn, that an eminent writer regards as "almost perfect. " 



276 



Origin of Lyte's hymn. 



Abide with me ! Fast falls the eventide. " 



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jJ'HIS hymn was the last poetic utterances of Lyte, 
®> written as the shadows of the dark valley were closing 
his labors on earth. 

Though he was, as he says, scarcely "able to crawl," 
he made one more attempt to preach and to administer 
the holy communion. "O brethren," said he, "I can 
speak feelingly, experimentally, on this point; and I stand 
before you seasonably to-day, as alive from the dead, if 
I may hope to impress it upon you, and induce you to 
prepare for that solemn hour which must come to all, by 
a timely acquaintance with, appreciation of, and a depen- 
dence on the death of Christ." 

Many tearful eyes witnessed the distribution of the sa- 
cred elements, as given out by one who was already stand- 
ing with one foot in the grave. 

Having given with his dying breath a last adieu to his 
surrounding flock, he retired to his chamber fully aware 
of his near approach to the end of time. As the evening 
of the sad day gathered its darkness, he handed to a near 
and dear relative this immortal hymn, with music ac- 
companying, which he had prepared: — 

" Abide with me ! Fast falls the eventide ; 

The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide ! 
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee. 
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. 

" Swift to its cdose ebbs out life's little day ; 

Earth"? joys grow dim ; its glories pass away ; 
Change and decay all around I see; 

Thou, who changest not, abide with me. '' 

The Master did abide with him the few more days he 
spent on earth. His end is described as that of "the 
happy Christian poet, singing while strength lasted," and 
while entering the dark valley, pointing upwards, with 
smiling countenance, he whispered, "Peace, joy. * 



Decision for Christ rewarded. 



277 



r 



" Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken. " 

fLIZA was the lovely daughter of a wealthy Infidel. 
During his absence as a member of the legislature, 
she stole away to a protracted meeting. As the lov- 
ing heart of Jesus was unfolded in the sermon, she wept 
aloud. Going home she told her mother where she had 
been and how she felt. Her mother became very angry 
and said, "your father will banish you, if you persist. " 
The next evening found her at the same place of pray- 
er, contrary to her mother's wishes. At the close of the 
sermon she cried for mercy, poured forth her heart in 
sobs and fervent prayers. Hymn after hymn was sung, 
and many prayers offered on her behalf. The last hymn 
was being sung. The last verse was reached. 

"Yet save a trembling sinner, Lord, 

Whose hope still hovering round thy word, 
Would light on some sweet promise thera, 
Some sure support against despair. " 

As the last strain sounded in the ear of the penitent, 
she gently threw back her head and opened her calm 
blue eyes, yet sparkling with tears, but they were tears 
that told of sins forgiven. 

Word reached Mr. P the father. Coming home 

on horse-back, Eliza fan to the gate to meet him with a 
kiss, but he rudely seized her by the arm, and with his 
horse-whip whipped her out of the gate, telling her to 
be gone, and with many curses forbade her return. 

Sadly she went weeping down the lane. A poor wid- 
ow took her into her house. There she spent the night 
in prayer. Her father, in great anguish, did the same, 
for he could not sleep. He sought and found mercy. 
Sent for his daughter, whom he met and embraced at 
the same gate, saying, " I give you my heart and hand 
to go with you to heaven." The mother followed and all 
were united in Christ, and are now with Christ above. 



J=W^» 



278 



A scorner conquered by a hymn. 




I send the joys of earth away. " 



QiHE sentiments of this hymn are strikingly illustrated 
(&> in the following narrative: — 

A young gentleman, tenderly attached to a young 
lady, was obliged to take a journey. During his absence 
she became a follower of Jesus. He heard of the change, 
and wrote her a letter full of invectives against religion 
and its gloomy professors. Having a good voice, and 
playing well on the piano-forte, she had been accustomed 
to entertain him with her music, especially in performing 
one song, of which he was very fond, the burden of 
which was, "All, never! ah, no!" At their first in- 
terview after his return, he tauntingly said, "I suppose 
you cannot sing me a soug now?" "Oh, yes," was her 
reply, " but I will ; " and, proceeding to her piano, she 
sung a hymn she had composed to his favorite tune: — 

" As I glad bid adieu to the world's fancied pleasure, 
You pity my weakness: alas! did you know 
The joys of religion, that best hidden treasure, 

Would }"ou bid me resign them? Ah, never! ah, no ! 

"You will surely rejoice when I say I've received 
The only. true pleasure attained below. 
I know by experience in whom 1 ve believed: 

Shall I give up this treasure? Ah. never! ah, no! 

" In the gay scenes of life I was happiness wooing ; 
But ah ! in her stead I encountered a woe, 
And found 1 was only a phantom pursuing: • 
Never once did 1 find her. Ah, never! ah, no! 

"But in these bright paths which you call melancholy 

I've found those delights which the world does not know. 
Oh, did you partake them, you'd then see your folly, 
Nor again bid me fly them! Ah, never! ah, no ! " 

By hearing these lines his prejudices gave way, his 
feet entered the narrow path, and they became a truly- 
happy pair. Dr. Belcher. 



r 



:ii 



Decision effected by a hymn. 



279 



C 



A hymn Deciding a Soul's Destiny. 

tN the Christian at Work, Henry P. Thompson gives 
the following statements : — 

"I never could understand it. She was one of 
the brightest, sweetest, and most amiable young ladies 
I ever knew ; and yet she and her mother, who was a 
widow, lived with her grand-parents, who, with the 
mother and an only uncle and an only brother, were the 
roughest people I ever knew. And it was not only the 
exterior that was rough. They would swear, and 
blackguard, and quarrel with each other in public or in 
private. 

" At a certain time, when calling at the house, the 
young lady, at my request, sat at the instrument and 
played and sang. Presently she turned to a particular 
tune, and said: 'I think this is so beautiful/ and, as she 
played, sang the accompanying "vords: — 




" ' I am weary of my sin ; 

0, I long for full release ; 
Saviour, come and take me in 

With thyself to dwell in peace. 
I am weary of the earth, 

Where the wicked spurn thy love ; 
"With thy sons of heavenly birth, 

Let me worship thee above. ' 

" Pointing to the words, ' I am weary of my sin ; O, I 
long for full release ;' I said, 'Is that true of you, Mary?' 
and while the quick tear trembled on the lid, she sweet- 
ly answered, ' Yes ; I want to follow Jesus. ' I said, 
'For such He waits, and will receive and bless them.' 

a At the next communion season she united with the 
church, and for four years, adorned her profession ; till 
at the close of a Sabbath evening, she was called to 
join the church above." 



280 Samuel Medley. 



" could I speak the matchless worth. " 

§HIS hymn was penned by Rev. Samuel Medley, who 
wrote two hundred and thirty hymns, an hich were 
gathered in a volume the year after his death. 

He was engaged as midshipman in the British navy, 
and on various occasions engaged in battle, in which at 
length in a fearful conflict, he was severely wounded. 

Taken to his grandfather's house for surgical treatment, 
he was brought under Christian influence and at length 
led to Christ by hearing read one of Dr. Watts' sermons. 
He left the sea, and became a faithful and successful 
preacher of that Saviour whose name in early life he oft- 
en profaned. For twenty-seven years he faithfully 
served as pastor of the First Baptist Church at Liver- 
pool, England, and also acted as one of the supplies of 
Lady Huntingdon's Tabernacle, and Tottenham-court 
Chapels in London. 

In 1799, he closed his earthly career, being sixty-one 
years of age, joyfully exclaiming just before his depart- 
ure, " I am now a poor shattered bark, just about to 
gain the blissful harbor ; and O how sweet will be the 
port after the storm ! Dying is sweet work, sweet work. 
I am looking to my dear Jesus, my God, my portion, 
my all in all; glory ! glory ! home! home!" 

He also wrote the popular hymn — 

" Awake my soul in joyful lays, 

And sing thy great Redeemer's praise. " 

The sweet echo of this hymn still lingers in the memory 
of the writer as the one frequently used to give ex- 
pression to his love and gratitude, when, as a child in 
years and grace, he passed from death unto life. 

Some touching incidents connected with the singing 
of the first named hymn are given on the next page. 








SAMUEL MEDLEY. 



Medley a hymn. 



283 




fN affecting circumstance was connected with the 
death of Rev. J. H. Kaufman, pastor of the Pres- 
byterian Church at Matawan, N. J. On Sabbath 
afternoon, Oct. 26th, 1873 as he was reading these lines 
in the first hymn : — 

" Soon the delightful day will come, 

When my dear Lord will call me home, 
And I shall see his face, " 

his strength gave out, and he sat down while the con- 
gregation sang the hymn through. Then he followed 
with a prayer in a feeble though earnest voice, and at the 
word "Amen," he fell over in a fit of apoplexy, from 
which he died in a few hours after being taken to his 
home. Mr. Kaufman's age was forty-seven. It is 
stated, as a very singular coincidence, that the Rev. Mr. 
Shafer, who was pastor of the same church about thirty- 
three years ago, fell dead in his pulpit from apoplexy, 
as he had concluded the same line of the same hymn which 
Mr. Kaufman read just before he was stricken. 



SIMILAR illustration of the sentiments of a hymn 
was also given in the death of Rev. Joseph Entwisle. 
At ten years of age he became a Christian while at 
Kingswood School, Eng. He entered the ministry at 
twenty-five, and evinced fervent piety throughout a long 
and useful life. 

On a Thursday evening in 1864, he was preaching at 
Moorside. He had just given out the hymn: — 

" God moves in a mysterious way, " 

and whilst the congregation was singing the fourth line 
of the verse, — 

"And rides upon the storm, " 
the preacher quietly sank down in the pulpit, and died. 




C 



w 



284 



Medley continued. 



g^h/ 



Medley's Poetic Answers. 

N 1793 Rev. Samuel Medley gave the following an- 
) swers to printed questions sent to him and others from 
London : 




Ques. 
Ques. 
Ques. 
Ques. 



-In what town is your church? 

In one where sin makes many a fool, 
Known by the name of Liverpool. 



-Is it a church, chapel or meeting? 

Why, my good sir, — 'tis very true, 
'Tis chapel, church and meeting too. 

-By what denomination is your church known? 

By one that's most despised of all, 
Which folks in general, Baptists call. 

-What is your Christian and surname, degree? 

My Christian name is called Saint, 
My surname rather odd and quaint, 

But to explain the whole with ease, 
Saint Samuel Medley, if you please; 
And you from hence may plainly see, 

That I have taken a degree. 

Ques. — Have you an assistant? 

yes ! I've One of whom I boast, 
His name is call'd the Holy Ghost. 

Ques. — What number of people attend? 

A many come, my worthy friend, 

I dare not say they all attend ; 
But though so many, great and small, 

I never number them at all, 
For that was once poor David's fall. 

Ques. — Is it encumbered with debt? 

Incumber'd with debt, 

It is certainly yet, 
Though I at the present don't state it; 

But if ever from home, 

I a begging should come, 
I'll readily to you relate it. 



c 



1/ 



Charles Wesley 's hymn. 



285 



First Song of one who had been Speechless. 

tN the institution for feeble minded children, formerly 
at Germantown, was placed a little child from Vir- 
ginia, who had been speechless from her birth. 

She was familiarly known as "Beeca." Dr. Parrish, 
the superintendent, describes her as one afraid of every 
living thing. Blocks and sticks she would nurse, but if 
a nicely dressed doll were presented, she would scream 
with fear. She loved nobody, and seemed fond of hurt- 
ing little children and destroying their playthings. 

Little by little her antipathies and coldness of dispos- 
ition gave way and she began to show affection for her 
matron. She soon began to love to sit in the School 
room with other children and listen to their little songs 
and hymns. In her eight year she would steal away 
and make sounds when alone in some hiding place. 

One summer evening her nurse had put her in her 
little bed early. The birds were singing in the trees by 
her window; the sun had just gone away and left his 
golden shadows on the western sky ; and in this sweet even- 
ing hour of twilight the imprisoned soul of the little 
child broke its bands, her tongue was loosend, and she 
lifted her voice, and sung. 

The nurse, hearing the sound, hastened up the stair- 
way, and, listening outside the bed-room door, was re- 
joiced to hear Becca comingling her voice with the bird 
choir without, and as her first utterance the appropriate 
language of Charles Wesley's hymn, she had heard other 
children sing: — 

tl Gentle Jesus, meek and mild 
Look upon a little child ! 
Pity my simplicity; 
Suffer me to come to thee. " 




c; 



286 



Medley's hymn illustrated. 



r 




Whosoever will '—0 gracious word. " 

RECIOUS is the gospel invi- 
tation given in the hymn by 
Medley, commencing: — 

" what amazing words of grace 
Are in the gospel found." 

The line at the head of this 
page is in the fourth verse, and 
tells us in Scripture language, 
who is invited. 

This oft-repeated Bible word 

"whosoever" became the link 

of salvation to a wicked old man, who lay sick and dying. 

He wanted to be saved, but he knew no Saviour ; he 

wanted to get to heaven, but he did not know the way. 

" Johnny " said he to his little boy one day, as 

the child sat by his bedside, " could you read to me a bit?" 

" Yes, father, " he said ; " I'll read to you as much as 

I can ; only I can't make out the hard words. " 

So the old man told his child to try ; and as the little 

boy read from the Bible the father leant close to listen. 

Johnny read on slowly until he came to the golden 

verse which says, " God so loved the world that He gave 

His only begotten Son, that " 

He stopped there. It was a long word, and poor lit- 
tle Johnny vainly tried to make it out. He spelt it over 
again and again ; but at last he said: — 

" I can't make it out, father; I'll just miss it, and go 
on reading. " 

So he began again. " God so loved the world, that 

He gave His only begotten Son, that believeth in 

Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. " 
" O Johnny, lad/' said the father, eagerly, " I do wish 




Medley's hymn illustrated. 



287 



you could make out that word. It's just what I'm want- 
ing to know. I wonder what the word can be ! " 

The old man felt that he must know. It was such an 
intensely important question that his heart was asking 
now, " May I be saved — is heaven for me. " Life and 
death depended upon it ; an eternity of joy or sorrow 
hung on the word that Johnny could not read. 

So he rose from his bed and came down into the little 
room below. He took the Bible in his hands, and sat 
at the street door with his fingers marking the word that 
he wanted so very much to know. 

By mid by a man came quickly down the street; the 
house d >or was open, and the old man heard the step, for 
he wi s sitting there waiting to ask any one who should 
pass if t'ley would read to him Johnny's hard word. 

Just as he was passing, the old man called to him, and 
asked him to come near and help him ; and then they both 
bent close over the Bible to the place where the father's 
trembling finger still marked the word. 

The other man looked at it, and then read, " Whoso- 
ever. n 

u Whosoever? " said the old man ; " and could you tell 
us what that means ? " 

" Why it means anybody, " said the man, as he turn- 
ed away, and went down the street. 

Quickly this aged sinner laid "hold of the hope 
set before him, " as he now saw that he was includ- 
ed in the " whosoever. " Gladly he took God at his 
word, believed, was saved, and was enabled with eyes 
beaming with joy to look forward to the time when he 
should exchange worlds and fully inherit eternal life. 



r 



288 



W. A. Muhlenburg, 




Author of "I would not live alway," 

R> 

{J) HIS first appeared June 3, 1826, in the Episcopal 
C§) Recorder of Philadelphia, as a part of a poetical com- 
position of forty-eight lines, written by Rev. "VV. A. 
Muhlenburg, D. D., and was afterward revised by him 
in 1865. 

As a committee of the General Convention of the Epis- 
copal Church were collecting material for a new hymn- 
book, Bishop Onderdonk presented this as one of his 
selections. The author was then unknown. Dr. Muh- 
lenburg was a member of the Convention, and argued 
against its admission. But though at first rejected, it 
was, by the importunity of Dr. Onderdonk, finally in- 
serted in the " Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. " 

Dr. Muhlenburg is descended "from a family of rev- 
olutionary fame. " 

In 1823, he was associate rector of St. James Church, 
Lancaster, Pa.; afterwards made Principal of St. Paul's 
College; then rector of St. Luke's Hospital, and of the 
church of the "Holy Communion," New York City. 

In 1828, he issued a work consisting of "Church 
Poetry," and in 1858, "The People's Psalter." 

We append the last verse of his hymn that is not 
found in the hymn-books: — » 

" That heavenly music ! hark sweet in the air 
The notes of the harpers, how clear ringing there ! 
And see, soft unfolding those portals of gold, 
The king all arrayed in His beauty behold ! 
Oh, give me, oh, give me the wings of a dove, 
To adore Him, be near Him, enwrapt with His love : 
I but wait for the summons, I list for the word, 
Allelujah, Amen, evermore with the Lord ! " 

Dr. Muhlenburg has given a new addition to this old 

inn. 



hy 



C 



Moore's hymn illustrated. 



289 



•^T 



Earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot cure. " 



t 



flbHUS ends each verse of the consoling hymn, — 
*%> " Come, ye disconsolate, where'enye languish. " 

As an illustration we give the following narrative 
sent to the " Guide to Holiness. " 

A physician in Illinois had been for fifteen years so 
afflicted with sore eyes, that at times he was compelled to 
shut himself up in a darkened room for weeks. 

"Nov. 1. 1871 his eyes being worse, he went to the 
city for medical counsel, but all said 'Doctor, there is 
no hope for you, you will become quite blind in three 
months. ' He returned to his home with a sad heart, 
and his wife and daughters deeply sympathized w r ith 
him. 

" A few evenings after his getting home, all, as was 
their custom, retired for their secret, or private prayers, 
and all felt deeply impressed to make the matter an ob- 
ject of special prayer. The doctor said, 'O blessed Je- 
sus, I come to Thee for help : I want to both suffer and 
to do Thy will. If it is for my good, and Thy glory 
that I should go blind, Thy will be done. But if I can 
do more good, and glorify Thee more perfectly with sight, 
then let me see ; but Thy will be done, and not mine. ' 

"Said he to me; 'It appeared as if Jesus touched my 
eyes, for in one moment I was perfectly cured. I rose 
to tell my family the good news, and my wife met me 
at the door, and said : ' Doctor, I do believe that Jesus 
will give you sight, ' but before I had time to answer, 
my daughters came running to me, both saying, 'Pa, I 
know Jesus will hear us pray for your sight/ Said he, 
' I told them that He had already cured my eyes. It 
was then too dark for them to see, but as soon as a light 
w r as struck, all saw that my eyes were perfectly cured, 
and they stay cured. ' " 



& 



290 



James Montgomery, 



C 



Montgomery and his hymns. 

tAMES MONTGOMERY, who is sometimes called 
the Cowper of the nineteenth century, was the son of 
an earnest Moravian minister, the Rev. John Mont- 
gomery. He was born at Irvine, Scotland, on the 4 th of 
November 1771. At the tender age of six he was placed 
under the paternal guardianship of the Brethern at Ful- 
neck, England where he received his early schooling. 
Speaking of the Christian influence surrounding the 
school he says " Whatever we did, was done in the name 
and for the sake of Jesus Christ, whom we were taught 
to regard in the amiable and endearing light of a friend 
and brother. A change having been made in their or- 
dinary beverage one day, a little fellow knelt down and 
said, " Oh Lord, bless us little children, and make us 
very good ! We thank thee for what we have received, 
Oh, bless this good chocolate, and give us more of it." 

How beautifully in after years he thus describes his 
childhood experience at Fulneck. 

11 Here while I roved a heedless boy 
Here while through paths of peace I ran, 
My feet were vexed with puny snares, 
My bosom stung with insect cares : 
But ah ! what light and little things 
Are childhood's woes ! — they break no rest! 

After referring to the skylark's music he continues: — 

Like him. on these delightful plains, 
I taught, with fearless voice, 
The echoing woods to sound my strains, 
The mountains to rejoice. 
Hail ! to the trees, beneath whose shade, 
Rapt into worlds unseen, I strayed : 
Hail ! to the streams that purled along 
In hoarse accordance to my song — 
My song that poured uncensured lays 
Tuned to a dying Saviour's praise, 
In numbers simple, wild, and sweet, 
As were the flowers beneath my feet." 



Montgomery continued. 



293 



C 



In his tenth year, Montgomery began to write poetry. 
So little inclination had he for his school studies, that, 
when fourteen, his friends placed him in a retail shop 
at Mirfield. Writing poetry engrossed his attention above 
every thing else. Speaking of this period, in later years, 
he says: — 

"When I was a boy I wrote a great many hymns; 
indeed, the first fruits of my mind were all consecrated to 
Him, who never despises the day of small things, even 
to the poorest of His creatures." 

The paraphrase of the 113th Psalm is the product of 
these boyhood days. The Archbishop of York was so 
pleased with it, that he gave it a place in a collection of 
hymns for the use of his diocese. The following lines, 
that form part of his hymn on " Praise for God's Conde- 
sension," was also written, it is said, while a youth at 
Mirfield : — 

" Servants of God ! in joyful lays. 
Sing ye the Lord Jehovah's praise; 
His glorious name let all adore, 
From age to age, for evermore." 

The parents of Montgomery having embarked for the 
missionary field, he resolved, when sixteen, to cut loose 
his moorings at Mirfield, and start out upon the sea of 
adventure. How or where to steer his course he did not 
know. On the second evening he landed at Wentworth 
Inn, with a little pack of clothing on his back, a little 
poetry in his pocket, and only three and sixpence in his 
money-purse. Hearing of a benevolent man, residing 
near by, he offered to sell some of his poetry. The kind 
hearted Earl Fitzwilliam read his little poem, and gave 
the young blushing poet a gold guinea, which seemed 
like a heaven-sent supply in this his time of need. On 
the fourth day, he secured a position with a grocer at 
W T ath. 




W 



'294 



Montgomery continued. 



C 



Here he remained a year, when he resolved to try to 
sell a volume of his manuscript poems at London. He 
first applied to Mr. Harrison, a bookseller. He de- 
clined the offer, but kindly tendered to him a position as 
clerk in his store. This he accepted, and during the 
following year made several other fruitless attempts to 
get into the market with his manuscripts. At length he 
read of an opening in the office of the editor of the 
Sheffield Register, a prominent weekly of some note in its 
day. This led to a visit to Sheffield, and a home in the 
family of its editor, Mr. Joseph Gales. 

In 1794, for fear of prosecution for some articles of 
a political caste, Mr Gales left England, when Mont- 
gomery took his place, and changed the title of the paper 
to the "Iris," and of this he continued the editor for 
thirty-one years. Twice he was imprisoned. First for 
reprinting a song commemorating the fall of the Bastile, 
and again in 1795 for a description of the riot at Sheffield, 
articles that were too liberal for the government of that 
day. While in prison, he wrote short poems on "Prison 
Amusements." 

In 1806, appeared his "Wanderer of Switzerland;" 
the following year, "The West Indies;" in 1813, "The 
World before the Flood;" in 1819, "Greenland;" and 
in 1828, the last of his longer poems, "The Pelican 
Island;" in 1833, he received a royal pension of 200/. 
a year. 

In 1836, Montgomery, with Annie and Sarah Gales, 
his adopted sisters moved to the famous "Mount," at the 
west end of Sheffield a beautiful situation which he de- 
scribes as "on the highest point, and overlooking all 
below, at a safe distance from the smoke, the smells, the 
bustle and all the goings on of human life in this strange 
place." Not long afterwards he had occasion to write, 
" We are one less at the Mount. Dear Anna departed 




Montgomery continued. 



297 



yesterday morning, and broke the threefold cord that 
bound herself, her sister, and me in domestic affection 
for more than five and forty years." 

Here he remained eighteen years, till life's sunset be- 
gan to tinge the summit of this hallowed Mount. As 
the evening shades of old age gathered around, none of 
his hymns were so expressive of his feelings as the one, 
"At Home in Heaven." Said he: "I received directly 
and indirectly more testimonials of approbation, in refer- 
ence to these verses, than perhaps any other which I have 
written of the same class, with the exception of those on 
'Prayer.'" 

One day he placed in Mr. Hoi land's hands some tran- 
scripts of his original hymns, that he wished him to read 
aloud in his hearing. After listening for a while his full 
heart overflowed in many tears. As Mr. Holland de- 
sisted, he said : — 

"Head on, I am glad to hear you. The words recall 
the feelings which first suggested them, and it is good for 
me to feel affected and humbled by the terms in which 
I have endeavored to provide for the expression of sim- 
ilar religious experience in others. As all my hymns 
embody some portions of the history of the joys or sor- 
rows, the hopes and fears of this poor heart, so I cannot 
doubt but that they will be found an acceptable vehicle 
of expression of the experience of many of my fellow 
creatures who may be similarly exercised daring the 
pilgrimage of their Christian life." 

Hence at one period of his life his restless heart 
exclaims : — 

"What can I do? I am tossed to an fro on the sea of 
doubts and perplexities; the further I am carried from 
that shore where once I was happily moored, the weaker 
grow my hopes of ever reaching another, where I may 



anchor in safety." 



And again 



C" 



298 



Montgomery continued. 



c 



"My restless, and imaginative mind, and my wild and 
ungovernable imagination have long ago broken loose 
from the anchor of faith, and have been driven, the sport 
of winds and waves, over an ocean of doubts, round which 
every coast is defended by the rocks of despair that for- 
bid me to enter the harbor in view." This was one of 
the "portions of the history." to which he refers, that 
afterwards enabled him to write from experience, when 
he penned that well-known hymn : — 

" where shall rest be found, 
Rest for the weary soul ? 
'Twere vain the ocean depths to sound, 
Or pierce to either pole." 

11 The world can never give 

The bliss for which we sigh ; 
'Tis not the whole of life to live, 
Nor all of death to die." 

Montgomery did not become fully assured of his sal- 
vation till in his forty-third year, when he wrote to his 
brother, saying, "On my birth-day, after many delays, 
and misgivings, and repentings, I wrote to Fulneck for 
re-admission into the Brethren's congregation ; and on 
Tuesday, December 6, the lot fell to me in that pleasant 
place, and on Sunday last I was publicly invested with 
my title to that goodly heritage." After referring to the 
Saviour he adds : " To him and to his people I have again 
devoted myself, and may he make me faithful to my cov- 
enant with him, as I know he will be faithful to his cov- 
enant with me! Rejoice with me, my dearest friends, for 
this unspeakable privilege bestowed on so unworthy and 
ungrateful a prodigal as I have been. Tell all the good 
brethren and sisters whom I knew at Bristol, this great 
thing which the Lord hath done unto me." 

This experience he afterwards versified in his sweet 
hymn — 



W 



Montgomery dontinued. 



299 



14 People of the living God, 

I have sought the world around, 
Paths of sin and sorrow trod, 

Peace and comfort nowhere found, 
Now to you my spirit turns, 

Turns, a fugitive unblest; 
Brethren, where your altar burns, 

receive me into rest ! 
"Lonely I no longer roam, 

Like the cloud, the wind, the wave ; 
Where you dwell shall be my home, 

Wheie you die shall be my grave; 
Mine the God whom you adore, 

Your Redeemer shall be mine ; 
Earth can fill my heart no more, 

Every idol I resign." 

He issued, in 1825, "The Christian Psalmist," con- 
taining one hundred and three of his own hymns, and in 
1833, "Original Hymns for Public, Social and Private 
Devotion." 

The last day he spent on earth he seemed as well as 
usual. In the evening worship he led in prayer with an 
earnestness and pathos that excited special attention. 
Little was it thought to be an illustration of his hymn : — 

"Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, 
The Christian's native air: 
His watchword at the gates of death — 
He enters heaven with prayer." 

Next morning there being no response to the knock at 

his door, it was opened, when he was found insensible on 

the floor. Consciousness returned for a while, and he 

lingered on till the afternoon, when, as Mrs. Gales sat 

by his bedside, he seemed to sink away in sleep. But 

" No — life had sweetly ceased to be : 
It lapsed in immortality." 

It was thus on the 30th of April, 1854, that he fully 
realized the language expressed in his hymn: — 

" Forever with the Lord ! — 
Amen ! so let it be. " 




c: 



M 



300 



James Montgomery's disappointment. 




r 



Unmarried Hymnists. 



£££ 



iJE give in other articles the facts in relation to the 
disappointed love that caused Cowper, Watts, Anne 
Steele, and other hymn writers, to remain unmar- 
ried. The following, in relation to Montgomery, will be 
read with interest. The expressive stanzas are believed 
by his biographers to be autobiographical and " founded on 
fact." Says one : — 

" Wath must be set down as the scene of an early and 
only love. The identity of the heroine, who gives name 
to the poem supposed to disclose the secrets of the heart, 
has sorely puzzled his friends. Of i Hannah ' the poet 
himself gave no clue. Village tradition points to Miss 
Turner, the young mistress of a fine old family man- 
sion between Wath and Barnsley, where sometimes 
he visited." 

The first verse of his little poem commences thus : — 

"At fond sixteen my roving heart 
Was pierced by Love's delightful dart; 
Keen transport throbbed through every vein, 
I never felt so sweet a pain." 

The period at which he " felt so sweet a pain" was, it is 
supposed, about the year 1789, when he was acting as 
clerk at Wath, and spending his leisure hours in intel- 
lectual pursuits. 

After an interval of changing hopes and fears he says: 

" When sick at heart with hope delayed, 
Oft the dear image of that maid 
Glanced like a rainbow o'er his mind 
And promised happiness behind. 



Then 



" The storm blew o'er, and in my breast 
The Halcyon, Peace, rebuilt her nest; 
The storm blew o'er, and clear and mild 
The sea of youth and pleasure smiled. 




Montgomery continued. 



301 



c 



" 'Twas on the merry morn of May, 
To Hannah's cot I took my way; 
My eager hopes were on the wing, 
Like swallows sporting in the spring. 

" Then as I climbed the mountains o'er, 
I lived my wooing days once more ; 
And fancy sketched my married lot, 
My wife, my children, and my cot. 

11 1 saw the village steeple rise, — 
My soul sprang, sparkling, to my eyes ; 
The rural bells rang sweet and clear, — 
My fond heart listened in mine ear. 

"I reached the hamlet; — all was gay; 
I love a rustic holiday ; 
I met a wedding — stept aside ; 
It passed — my Hannah was the bride 1 

11 There is a grief that cannot feel ; 
It leaves a wound that will not heal ; 
My heart grew cold — it felt not then ; 
When shall it cease to feel again. " 




OWPER was ardently attached to his beautiful and 
accomplished cousin, Theodora Jane Cowper, but her 
father, Ashley Cowper, considered the relationship 
between them too close to admit of marriage. There was 
a long and painful struggle between love and filial obedi- 
ence before they resigned all hope of being thus united. 
The following lines are supposed to depict Cowper's 
fading vision of happiness : — 

"But now sole partner in my Delia's heart, 
Yet doomd far off in exile to complain, 
Eternal absence cannot ease my smart, 

And hope subsists but to prolong my pain. 

" Oh then, kind Heaven ! be this my latest breath ; 
Here end my life, or make it worth my care; 
Absence from whom we love is worse than death, 
And frustrate hope severer than despair." 



1 



V 



302 John Berridge. 



Why Mr. Berridge Remained Unmarried. 

fEV. JOHN BERRIDGE, the author of a book of 
hymns, explains in a letter to the Countess of Hunt- 
ingdon why he lived the life of a bachelor: — 

" To Lady Huntingdon, March 23rd, 1770: Eight or 
nine years ago, having been grieviously tormented with 
housekeepers, I truly had thoughts of looking out for a 
Jezebel myself. But it seemed highly needful to ask 
advice of the Lord. So, falling down on my knees be- 
fore a table, with a Bible between my hands, I besought 
the Lord to give me a direction ; then letting the Bible 
fall open of itself, I fixed my eyes immediately on these 
words, 'When my son was entered into his wedding 
chamber, he fell down and died.' (2 Esdras x. 1.) This 
frightened me heartily, you may easily think; but Satan, 
who stood peeping at my elbow, not liking the heavenly 
caution, presently suggested a scruple, that the book was 
apocryphal, and the words not to be heeded. Well, after 
a short pause, I fell on my knees again, and prayed 
the Lord not to be angry with me, whilst, like Gideon, 
I requested a second sign, and from the canonical Script- 
ure; then letting my Bible fall open as before, I fixed 
my eyes directly on this passage, 'Thou shalt not take 
thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in 
this place/ I was now completely satisfied, and was 
thus made acquainted with my Lord's will." 

A lady came to see him one day, in her carriage, to 
solicit his hand in marriage, assuring him that the Lord 
had revealed it to her that she was to become his wife. 
"Madam," said he in reply, "if the Lord has revealed 
it to you that you are to be my wife, surely he would 
also have revealed it to me that I was designed to be 
your husband ; but as no such revelation has been made 
to me, I cannot comply with your wishes. " 



George Neumarh 



303 




C 



An Impromptu Hymn and Tune. 

T the close of the thirty years* war in Germany, 
George Neumark found himself in want, as did many 
others. He was born at Thurigen, March 16, 1621, 
just two years after the commencement of the long strife. 
Having studied law in the University of which Simon 
Dach, the eminent poet and musician, was President, he 
became like him, also distinguished for his poetical and 
musical ability. 

Having suffered many privations while seeking em- 
ployment at Dantzic and Thorn, he tried to improve 
his fortune, by going to Hamburg, in 1651. There he 
obtained a precarious subsistence by the use of his vio- 
loncello, a six-stringed instrument, in use in those days, 
upon which he played most charmingly. 

But after a while he was taken sick, and could not 
gain a support by his musical tours. Not wishing to 
reveal his abject poverty, and as his last resort, he took 
his violin to a Jew, who loaned him a small sum with 
the understanding that if it was not redeemed within two 
weeks, he was to forfeit it. 

As he reluctantly gave it to the Jew with tearful eyes, 
it seemed like the sundering of heart-strings. 

Said he; "You know not how hard it is to part from 
that violin. For ten years it has been my companion 
and comforter. If I have nothing else, I have had it; 
at the worst, it spoke to me, and sung back all my cour- 
age and hope. Of all the sad hearts that have left your 
door, there has been none so sad as mine. Were it pos- 
sible, I would ten times rather pawn to you my very 
heart's blood than this sweetner of my poverty. Believe 
me, Nathan, among all the unfortunate whom stern 
necessity has compelled to pawn to you their little all, 
I am the most so." Here his emotions choked his 




w 



304 



Neumarh continued. 



*4S( 



utterance. Seizing the instrument again, he played a 
sweet melody, while he sang two stanzas of his hymn : 

" I am weary, I am weary, 

Take me, dearest Lord, away ; 
In this world so bleak and dreary, 

I wonld fain no longer stay 1 
For my life is nought to me, 
But one scene of misery ! 

Suddenly his melancholy and plaintive notes ceased, and 
he commenced in a cheerful strain to sing: — 

"Yet who knows, but all this sadness, 

Will be made in joy to end ; 
And this heart be filled with gladness, 

Which is now with sorrow rent. 
For the pleasures here we gain, 
Often cause eternal pain ! " 

As he ceased, the tears were coursing down his cheeks 
and his voice trembled with the deep emotion within. 

As he gave the instrument a sad adieu he meekly said, 
"As the Lord will I am still." Then, as with a heart 
swelling with sorrow, he rushed out of the door, he ran 
against some one who had been held spell-bound by his 
sweet music. 

"Pardon me, Sir," said the stranger, "the hymn you 
have just sung has deeply affected me, where can I get 
a copy of it? I will amply pay you for it. It just meets 
my case." 

" My good friend," said Neumark, "your wish shall 
be granted. " 

This listener was John Guteg, the servant of the 
Swedish ambassador, Baron Von Rosenkranz. 

He gave the baron an account of this musical genius, 
of his poverty, of his pawning his favorite instrument 
as a last resort, and of the hymn he sang of which he 
had the copy. The story interested the ambassador, he 




C 



w 



Neumark continued. 



305 



C 



sent for the sweet singer, and gave him at once a remu- 
nerative position as secretary. 

Neumark was now enabled to reclaim his instrument. 

Calling at the house of his landlady, who had sympa- 
thized with him in his misfortunes, he told her the good 
news. Soon the room was crowded with friends and 
neighbors to hear him sing and play again. 

With a heart swelling with gratitude, in an impromptu 
manner, he sang, what has ever since been, one of the 
most popular German hymns : — 

u Wer nur den lieben Gott laesst walten. " 
It has been translated as follows: — 

"Leave God to order all thy ways, 
And hope in Him, whate'er betide, 
Thou'lt find him in the evil days, 
Thine all-sufficient strength and guide. 
Who trusts in Gods unchanging love, 
Builds on the rock that ne er can move." 

Thus he oifered his thanksgiving to Him who had 
helped him in this his time of need. To the inquiry 
as to whether he had composed the hymn himself, he 
meekly answered: "Well, yes, I am the instrument, but 
God swept the strings. All I knew was that these words, 
'Who trusts in God's unchanging love/ lay like a soft 
burden upon my heart. I went over them again and 
again, and so they shaped themselves into song, how I 
cannot tell. I began to sing, and to pray for joy, and 
my soul blessed the Lord ; and word followed Avord like 
water from a fountain. " 

After being employed for two years as" the secretary, 
the noble Lord Von Rosenkrantz obtained for him the 
more lucrative situation as Keeper of the Archives, and 
Librarian at Weimar, where he died in 1688. 



W 



306 



John Newton's awahenina. 



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" Amazing grace ! how sweet the sound, 
That saved a wretch like me. 

" In evil long I took delight, 
Unawed by shame or fear. " 



fHESE two hymns of John Newton, issued in 1779, 
were photographs of his past experience. 

He was born in London on the 24th of July, 1725. 
His father had charge of a ship engaged in the Medi- 
terranean trade. 

When a young man he gave himself up to a sea-faring 
life, and, being impressed, was put on board the Har- 
wich man-of-war, where he gave vent to all his corrupt 
passions, and yielded himself to the influence of the bald- 
est infidelity. While the boat lay at Plymouth he de- 
serted, was caught, brought back and kept in irons, then 
publicly stripped and whipped, after which he was de- 
graded from the office of midshipman, and his companions 
forbidden to show him the least favor or even to speak 
to him. He was thus brought down to a level with the 
lowest and exposed to the insults of all. 

During the following five years he got leave to be 
exchanged and entered a vessel bound for the African 
coast. Here he became the servant of a slave trader, 
who with his wife treated him with savage cruelty. For 
fifteen months he lived in the most abject bondage. 

Writing to his father, arrangements were made for a 
vessel to call for him and to bring him home. 

While on the voyage home he found on the boat a 
copy of Stanhope's Thomas a Kempis, that he read to 
pass away the time. While perusing it, the thought 
flashed across his mind : " What if these things should 
be true." 

The following night a fearful storm arose. A friend, 
who took his place for a moment, was swept overboard. 



w 




JOHN NEWTON. 



Newton's hymn. 



309 



C 



For a time it seemed as if the boat would be shivered 
to atoms. During the calm that followed, a tempest of 
sin arose within his bosom. His crimes, infidel scofh'ngs, 
and many narrow escapes from sudden death, passed 
before his mind in dark array. 

Then says he: "I began to pray; I could not utter the 
prayer of faith, I could not draw near to a reconciled 
God, and call him Father: my prayer was like the cry 
of the ravens, which yet the Lord does not disdain to 
hear. I now began to think of the Jesus whom I had so 
often offended. I recollected the particulars of his life 
and death ; a death for sins not his own, but for those, 
who, in their distress, should put their trust in him. . . 
In perusing the New Testament, I was struck with 
several passages, particularly the prodigal — a case that 
had never been so nearly exemplified, as by myself — 
and then the goodness of the father in receiving, nay, in 




running to meet such a son, and this intended only to 
illustrate the Lord's goodness to returning sinners this 
gained upon me. " Thus he became, as he says, " a new 
man. " 

In after years he brought out his experience in verse, 
on this wise : — 

" T hear the tempest's awful sound, 
I feel the vessels quick rebound ; 
And fear might now my bosom fill, 
But Jesus tells me, ' Peace ! Be still ! ' 

" In this dread hour I cling to Thee, 
My Saviour, crucified for me. 
If that T perish be Thy will, 
In death, Lord, whisper, ' Peace ! Be still ! ' 

" Hark ! He has listened while I prayed, 
Slowly the tempest s rage is stayed ; 
The yielding waves obey His will, 
Jesus hath bid them, ' Peace ! Be still ! ' " 



If 



310 



John Newton's mother. 



^g' 



A Mother's Prayer and Her Son's Hymn. 

"Jesus, the Lord, will hear 
His chosen when they cry, 
Yea, though awhile he may forbear, 
He'll help them from on high. " 

§HIS verse, taken from Newton's oft-repeated hymn- 
" Jesus, who knows full well 
The heart of every saint, " 

was illustrative of his own history. He was the child 
of many prayers. Says he : " I can sometimes feel a pleas- 
ure in repeating the grateful acknowledgment of David, 
*0 Lord, I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid. ' 
The tender mercies of God toward me were manifest in 
the first moment of my life, I was dedicated to him in 
my infancy." 

When but four years old, his mother had already 
stored his memory with many valuable pieces, chapters 
and portions of Scripture, catechisms, hymns and poems. 
"My mother observed my early progress with peculiar 
pleasure, and intended from the first to bring me up 
with a view to the ministry." 

When seven years of age, he lost his devotedly pious 
mother. His father and step-mother left him to mingle 
with careless and profane children, and to become like 
them. His subsequent life of prodigality seemed to neu- 
tralize and contradict the virtue of a Christian mother's 
prayers, yet nevertheless, the Lord does hear his — 

" chosen when they cry, " 

and, as we see in Newton's case, though divine grace did — 

11 awhile forbear, 

He'll help them from above. " 

Though this faithful mother was dead and in the 
grave, her prayers and influence followed him in all his 




C 



D 



Newton continued. 



311 



C 



wanderings, as he says: "though, in process of time, I 
sinned away all the advantages of these early impressions, 
yet they were for a great while a restraint upon me; they 
returned again, and it was very long before I could 
wholly shake them off; and when the Lord at length 
opened my eyes, I found a great benefit from the recol- 
lection of them. Further, my dear mother, besides the 
pains she took with me, often commended me with many 
prayers and tears to God. I have no doubt but I reap 
the fruits of these prayers to this hour. " How exten- 
sive and enduring the answer to those supplications of a 
mother's heart. Her son became not only a minister 
eminent in usefulness, and a writer of hymns, whose in- 
fluence -reaches as far as the English language extends, 
but the means of the conversion of others who have carried 
the light of gospel truth among the millions enveloped 
in the darkness of heathenism. 

Newton was the means of the conversion of Claudius 
Buchanan, who afterwards w^nt as a missionary to the 
East Indies. There he wrote a book, "The Star in the 
East," which was the first thing that attracted the atten- 
tion of Adoniram Judson as a missionary to the East In- 
dies, where he afterwards poured a flood of light on Bur- 
mah and its surrounding millions. 

Thomas Scott, the renowned commentator, was also 
among Newton's trophies. In his autobiography, Scott 
honestly admits that he was unconverted when he re- 
ceived ordination, totally ignorant of the gospel and its 
saving power, till he was led to the truth by Mr. Newton. 

Newton also, in connection with Doddridge, was in- 
strumental in the spiritual change of Wilberforce, for 
whose conversion he is said to have prayed fourteen 
years. Wilberforce laid his princely fortune at the feet 
of Jesus, and also effected by his eloquence, after years 
of unceasing efforts, the abolition of the African Slave 



312 



Newton continued. 



Trade. He also wrote the useful book entitled, "A 
Practical View of Christianity, " that has already passed 
through some fifty editions. 

This book was the means of the conversion of Leigh 
Richmond, the author of the " Dairyman's daughter, " 
whose eminently successful life and writings have resulted 
in the conversion of thousands. 

Thus we see what a vast train of blessed results have 
followed the early training of John Newton, and how 
rich the eternal reward must be tc such a faithful mother. 




SIMILAR case of a mother's prayers for a way- 
ward son is given by Rev. J. T. Benedict. 

A mother with several children, being left a wid- 
ow, felt the heavy responsibility of her position. 

She would arise at midnight, and, in the chamber 
where they were sleeping, would kneel and pray for them 
with wrestling importunity. 

Her eldest son, becoming restive of religious restraints, 
forsook his home, and went to sea as a sailor. 

During several years' absence, he became profligate, but 
at length was induced to re-visit the place of his nativity. 
His mother had died in the meantime and his relatives 
scattered. Not knowing where else to go to make in- 
quiries concerning his departed mother, he went to the 
prayer-meeting she had been accustomed to attend. 

Before the service was over, the echo of his dead moth- 
er's prayers so overcame him, that he exclaimed aloud, 
" My mothers prayers haunt me like a ghost. " 

After writhing for some weeks under the keenest con- 
viction of sin he became truly penitent, and soon united 
with the church. 

" It shan't be said that praying breath 
Was ever spont in vain. " 



r 



)) 




Monica Watching Augustine's De 



part u re. 



Monica. 



315 



C 



The Mother of Augustine. 

fEWTON'S history, and the far-reaching influence of 
his mother's prayers and tears, bear a striking resem- 
blance to that of Augustine and his prayerful moth- 
er, Monica. Augustine was born at Tagasta, Africa, in 
the year 354. In early life he evinced genius and great 
aptitude for learning. This induced his pious parents to 
send him away to the best schools. 

Surrounded with the allurements of vice, he was led 
astray, until he became infamous in iniquity. But amid 
all his wanderings, his mother's importunate prayers 
surrounded him. On his departure from home, she would 
stand on the sea-shore, and send after him her warmest 
supplications, and, with tearful anxiety, watch the vessel 
as it would glide out of sight in the distant horizon. 

Monica's tears left an impress upon the pages of church 
history, that the lapse of fifteen centuries has not yet 
erased. In his "Confessions," Augustine tells how the 
new song of praise escaped his lips after his feet were 
taken from the pit. " How, " says he, " did I weep, 
through Thy hymns and canticles, touched to the quick 
by the voice of Thy sweet attuned church ! The voices 
sank into mine ears, and the truth distilled into mine 
heart, whence the affections of my devotions overflowed; 
tears ran down and happy was I therein." 

During a season of danger and persecution, when 
Christians fled to the church for shelter, he says: "The 
devout people kept watch in the church, ready to die 
with their bishop, Thy servant. There my mother, Thy 
handmaid, bearing a chief part in those anxieties and 
watchings, lived for prayer Then it was insti- 
tuted, that, after the manner of the Eastern churches, 
hymns and psalms should be sung, lest the people should 
wax faint through the tediousness of sorrow." 



1/ 



316 



Newton } s hymn. 



Q 



How sweet the name of Jesus sounds." 



fEWTON wished, one day, to sound out, with special 
emphasis, the precious name to which his hymn refers. 
When he had passed his fourscore years, he could 
not desist from preaching. As it was with difficulty that 
he could see to read his manuscript, he took a servant 
with him in the pulpit, who stood behind him, and with 
a wooden pointer would trace out the lines. 

One day, Newton came to the words in his sermon, 
"Jesus Christ is precious," and wishing to emphasize 
them, he repeated, "Jesus Christ is precious." His ser- 
vant, thinking he was getting confused, whispered, "Go 
on, go on, you said that before;" when Newton, looking 
around, replied, "John, I said that twice, and I am going 
to say it again," when with redoubled force he sounded 



out the word 



s again, 



Jesus Christ is precious." 



ft>HE Rev. M. L. Hodge, D. D., an eminently devoted 
!!g) minister of the Presbyterian Church, near Petersburg, 
Va., when bidding adieu to the scenes of earth, re- 
quested his friends to sing. As they commenced with 

the words, 

"How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 
In a believer's ear ! " 

he could not remain silent. As he joined with a trem- 
bling voice, he seemed to summon all his departing 
strength, when they came to the words: — 

" Weak is the effort of my heart, 
And cold my warmest thought; 
But when 1 sec thee as thou art, 
I'll praise thee as I ought." 

His countenance lit up with unspeakable joy, as with 
much unction and emotion, he sang the last lines: — 

M And may the music of thy name 
Refresh my soul in death." 




Newton's hymn illustrated. 



317 



What a friend we have above. " 



S illustrative of this line in the well known hymn 
of Newton, commencing, — 

11 One there is above all others. 

Well deserves the name of Friend, " 

we give the following touching account of "Little Pe- 
ter," who realized that "every good gift and every 
perfect gift is from above, and cometh from the Fath- 
er of lights. " He was a poor orphan boy w T ho sang so 
sweetly as he went begging his bread from door to door 
that he was seldom turned away empty-handed. 

When his father was on his death bed, he said to his 
son," My dear Peter, you will now be left alone, and 
many troubles you will have in the world. But always 
remember, that all comes from above ; then you will 
find it easy to bear every thing with patience. " 

Ever after when alms were given him, he would 
acknowledge the gift by saying, "It comes from above." 
When his knock at the door brought the response, 
"Who's there, " he would often sing: — 

" Alms to little Peter give; 
Without shoes or hat I go 
To my home beyond the sky ; 
I have nothing here below." 

" Once, as he was passing through the town, a sudden 
wind blew off a roof-tile, which fell on his shoulder, and 
struck him to the ground. His first words were, ' It 
comes from above. ? 

" The bystanders laughed, and thought he must be 
out of his wits, for of course the tile could not come from 
below ; but they did not understand him. A moment 
after, the wind tore off an entire roof in the same street, 
which crushed three men to death. Had little Peter 
gone on, he would probably have been at that mo- 



£ 



318 



Newton 's hymn illustrated. 



ment, just where the roof fell. Thus the tile did 
' come from above. ' 

"At another time a distinguished gentleman employ- 
ed him to carry a letter to a neighboring town, bidding 
him to make all haste. On the way he tried to spring 
over a ditch, but it was so wide that he fell in, and was 
neaily drowned. The letter was lost in the mud, and 
could not be recovered. When Peter got out again, he 
exclaimed, ' It comes from above. ' The gentleman was 
angry when Peter told him of his mishap, and drove 
him out of doors with a whip. 'It comes from above/ 
said Peter, as he stood on the steps. The next day the 
gentleman sent for him. 'See here/ said he, l there are 
two ducats for you, for tumbling into the ditch. Cir- 
cumstances have so changed on a sudden, that it would 
have been a misfortune to me had the letter gone safely. ' 

"A rich Englishman who came into the town, hav- 
ing heard his story, sent for him in order to bestow on 
him some charity. When l Little Peter y entered the 
room the Englishman said, 'What think you, Peter; 
why have I sent for you?' * It comes from above/ re- 
plied Peter. This answer greatly pleased the English- 
man. After musing a while, he said, 'You are right; 
I will take you into my service and provide well for 
you. Will you agree to that?' 'It comes from above/ 
answered Peter; why should I not?' 

"So the rich Englishman took him away. We were 
all sorry that he came no more to sing his pretty verse 
under our windows. But he had become weary of beg- 
ging, and as he had learned no trade we were glad that 
he was at length provided for. Long afterwards we 
learned that when the rich man died he bequeathed a 
large sum of money to ' Little Peter, ' who was now a 
wealthy man in Birmingham. But he still said of every 
occurrence, 'It comes from above.'" 



r 



i) 



A hymn from "above" 



319 




" Angel Sent" Stanzas. 



r 




Y the manna which dropped 
from heaven, God's Israel 
was fed. Bread of life still 
drops from above, as seen in 
the following sketch : — 

a An elderly gentleman 
came into our store one day, 
and asked for a book enti- 
tled 'The Changed Cross.' 
He said it contained a hymn 
which led him to the Sa- 
viour. 
" Upon a little inquiry, he gave the following account :- 
" ' Twelve years ago, I was in a very agitated state 
of mind about my soul's welfare. I was working in a 
store on Federal Street one day, when I felt unusually 
distressed. I went up into the third story. The win- 
dow was slightly lowered, — about a pane's length. 
While there, and in this state of mind, there came sud- 
denly a little slip of paper floating in at the window. 
I picked it up, and found thereon these stanzas ' ( draw- 
ing a worn slip from his pocket): — 

4< ' In meek obedience to the heavenly Teacher, 
Thy weary soul can find its only peace ; 
Seeking no aid from any human creature, 
Looking to God alone for his release. 

" ' And he will come in his own time and power 
To set his earnest-hearted children free : 
Watch only through this dark and painful hour, 
And the bright mornLig yet will break for thee. ' 

"'I cried, 'God be praised! ' and I have been prais- 
ing God ever since. ' On being asked how that piece 
of paper came there, and why, he said, 'An angel sent it. ' " 



320 



Newton's hymn illustrated. 




" We, alas ! forget too often 

What a friend we have above. " 

2jb LADY who had the charge of young persons not 
<eb> of kindred blood, became, on one occasion, perplex- 
ed with regard to her duty. She retired to her own 
room to meditate, and being grieved in spirit, laid down 
her head upon a table, and wept bitterly. She scarcely 
perceived her little daughter, seated quietly in the cor- 
ner. Unable longer to bear sight of her mother's dis- 
tress, she stole softly to her side, and taking her hand 
in both of her own, said, " Mamma once you taught 
me a pretty hymn: — 

1 If e'er you meet with trials, 
Or troubles on the way, 
Then cast your care on Jesus, 
And don't forget to pray.' " 

Mother did not " forget to pray" after that; but 
leaving her burden with Jesus, she went on her way 
rejoicing. 



SOMEWHAT similar circumstance was reported 
to me by a pastor in Pennsylvania. Said he : — 
" Being under a cloud of difficulty, I sat in sad- 
ness in my study one Saturday night not knowing what 
to do. 

" My little son seeing my tearful eyes, leaped up in 
my lap, and tried to wipe away my tears on this wise: — 
After inquiring the cause, he said, 'Papa, nevermind; 
don't weep. When the birds sing early in the morning, 
PI 1 get out of bed and tell Jesus all about it." 

And so he did, in his childlike way, while the father 
listened with deep emotion. 

That very day, help came, and for many years since 
he has enjoyed the fruit of that answered prayer. 



Words of cheer from children's song. 321 




Singing the Tears Away. 

HEN words are fitly sung, they 
prove to be " apples of gold, " 
as well as when fitly spoken. 

A hymn I had often used 
while preaching to the young, 
sweetly reechoed asa" word in 
season/' during the winter of 
" hard times" in 1857—58. 

One morning I had occasion 
to be in a Christian family liv- 
ing at Norristown, Pa., who 
^ had keenly felt the pressure of 

the panic. They had gotten down to the scrapings of the 
empty barrel. They had nothing left for breakfast but 
the crumbs of other days. These were all gathered on 
one plate and place in the centre of the table. 

All the family gathered around the scanty meal except 
two little boys, who were absorbed with their playthings 
in one corner of the room. 

After the father had given thanks; tears rolled down 
the cheeks, as their eyes gazed upon the empty plates. 

During the sad silence which followed, the two boys 
dropped their toys, arose to their feet, and, as if led by 
angel hands, marched forward to the table, and sang; 

11 do not be discouraged, 
For Jesus is your friend; 
He will give you grace to conquer, 
And keep you to the end." 

Tears fled as dew-drops before the rising sun. 

An unexpected Providence brought relief, and never 
since have tear drops fallen on empty dishes, as they joy- 
fully continue to sing of Jesus as their " friend. " 




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w 



322 Valpy's hymn. 




" Two Officers Led to Christ by a Verse. " 

fHE great scholar, Dr. Valpy, who published an edi- 
tion of Homer, and other learned works, became a 
Christian late in life, and shortly before he died, 
he wrote this beautiful hymn-prayer : — 

" In peace let me resign my breath, 
And thy salvation see; 
My sins deserve eternal death, 
But Jesus died for me. " 

The verses fell into the hands of Dr. March, who read 
them aloud once at a religious service in the family of 
Lord Roden. The nobleman was so much pleased with 
them that he had them nicely written out and framed, 
and hung over the mantle-piece in his study. 

Gen. Taylor, a Waterloo veteran, while on a visit to 
Lord Roden some time afterwards, read the lines and 
was much impressed by them. He was a man who had 
thought little about religion, and never liked to talk 
about it. But now every time he came into the study, 
his eyes would rest upon that motto over the mantle- 
piece. At last, one day Lord Roden exclaimed: — 

"General, you'll soon get that stanza by heart. " 

"I know it by heart now," said the general, with feel- 
ing. Gen. Taylor was a changed man ever after. At 
the end of two years he died, and his last words were : — 

" In peace let me resign my breath, 
► .And thy salvation see ; 

My sins deserve eternal death, 
Buvt Jesus died for me. " 

A good while after this Lord Roden told the above 
story in the hearing of a young officer lately returned 
from the Crimean War, and repeated the lines at the close. 
Apparently they made no impression upon the young 
man at the time, but a few months proved that he had 



Newton's hymn. 



323 




them " by heart, " too. Stricken down with a quick 
decline, and sensible that he was near his end, he sent 
for Lord Roden, saying that he wished to see him with- 
out delay. The nobleman hastened to the sick-room, 
and as soon as he entered, the dying man welcomed him 
with a smiling face. "I wanted to tell you what a 
blessing those lines have been to me," he said. "They 
have been God's message of comfort, brought to my 
memory after days of darkness here, — 

a In peace let me resign my breath, 
And thy salvation see; 
My sins deserve eternal death, 
But Jesus died for me. " 

And thus the sweet words of faith uttered in the sim- 
ple rhyme of a dying scholar became the last consolation 
of two dying soldiers. 

This interesting narrative is taken from The Youth's 
Companion. 




" Stop, poor sinner, stop and think. " 

YOUNG man met a gentleman who placed in his 
hand a slip of paper, on which was printed this hymn 
of John Newton : — 

"Stop, poor sinner, stop and think. " 

He was so much affected by it that he committed it 
to memory. Years afterward when a student at Brown 
University, during a season of revival, he entered a 
place where religious service was being held, just as the 
hymn was being commenced : — 

" Stop, poor sinner, stop and think. " 

His former impressions were at once revived. He did 
"stop and think, 7 ' became an earnest Christian, and af- 
terwards in the medical profession, a zealous worker 
in the vineyard of Christ. 



G 



324 



Samson Occom. 



A Popular Hymn "Written by an Indian. 

tAMSON Occom, an Indian preacher, wrote a hymn 
in 1760, which, though over a hundred years old, 
is still frequently sung. It originally contained seven 
verses. The first line of the first verse reads thus: — 

"Awaked by Sinai's awful sound." 

He is also accredited with the hymn : — 

" turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die. " 

He was born at Mohegan, near Norwich, Connecti- 
cut, about the year 1723. During a revival of 1740, 
under Whitfield, Tennent, and their co-laborers, several 
ministers visited the Indians. And among the num- 
ber who professed conversion was Occom, then seven- 
teen years of age. In a year or two after this, he learn- 
ed to read, and went to the Indian school of Mr. 
Wheelock of Lebanon, where he remained four years. 

He then taught a school, and preached among the 
Indians at Montauk, Long Island, and other places for 
some twenty years. His labors were blessed in a gra- 
cious revival among the Montauks. 

In 1759, he was ordained by the Suffolk Presbytery. 

In 1766, he was sent to England to advocate the 
cause of an Indian Charity School. 

As he was the first Indian preacher who had visited 
England, he drew out immense audiences. In a little 
over a year, he preached four hundred sermons. Dur- 
ing that time, he collected over forty-five thousand dol- 
lars for his school, which, at length, was merged into 
Dartmouth College. 

His hymns have been much used in England and Wales. 

After his return to this country, he was employed in 
general missionary labors among the Indians until in 
July, 1792, he died, aged sixty-nine years. 




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1 




SAMSON OCCOM. 



Occom continued. 



327 




Occom's Hymn. 

" Awaked by Sinai's awful sound, 
My soul in bonds of guilt I found, 

And knew not where to go ; 
Eternal truth did loud proclaim, 
' The sinner must be born again,' 

Or sink to endless woe. 

"When to the law I trembling fled, 
It poured its curses on my head, 

I no relief could find ; 
This fearful truth increased my pain, 
' The sinner must be born again, ' 
And whelmed my tortured mind. 

"Again did Sinai's thunders roll, 
And guilt lay heavy on my soul, 

A vast oppressive load; 
Alas! I read and saw it plain, 
' The sinner must be born again, ' 
Or drink the wrath of God. 

"The saints I heard with rapture tell 
How Jesus conquered death and hell, 

And broke the fowler's snare ; 
Yet when I found this truth remain, 
• The sinner must be born again, ' 
1 sunk in deep despair. 

" But while I thus in anguish lay, 
The gracious Saviour passed this way, 

And felt his pity move ; 
The sinner, by his justice slain, 
Now by his grace is born again, 

And sings redeeming love. " 




R. THORPE, with a group of scoffers tried to mimic 
Whitefleld. One and another stood on a ^ble to 
try their skill. Thorpe opened the Bible and read, 
"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. It was 
" Sinai's awful sound." He trembled, wept, ran from the 
room, was converted and became a useful preacher. 



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328 



Occam* $ hymn illustrated. 



" Oh, turn ye, oh, turn ye, for why will ye die ! " 



44 



ISTER Mary requested me to write and tell you 

*&> that she had gone to heaven." Thus wrote a 
brother from Elimsport, Pa. 

At the close of a protracted meeting service on a snowy 
winter night, invitation was given for any that were anx- 
ious to attend a meeting for the special benefit of such, 
in an adjoining house. To induce decision for Christ, 
we remarked that all should act as they would wish 
they had acted when they thought of that night at the 
judgment day. The pastor and myself waited a long 
while at the appointed place for prayer, but it seemed 
in vain. At length the door slowly opened, and this 
weeping Mary entered. As she took her scat, said 
she, "Mr. Long, I went home; I could not summon 
courage to tear loose from my gay and giddy companions. 
But as I was about entering the gate, I thought of your 
remark about the judgment day. I at once turned around, 
and have walked back a mile through the snow to ask 
you to pray for me." 

That turning point at the gate was the point on which 
hinged her eternal destiny. She became a devoted Christ- 
ian, and was laid upon her death-bed the following sum- 
mer. 

We shall never forget the joy that flashed from her 
countenance as she pointed from that sick chamber to the 
wicket gate in the yard, where she took her first step in 
that narrow path that was now leading her to endless 
glory. 

Befoft her departure she sent me the following lines : 
" I do not expect to arise from my bed again. During 
the last spell I had I was so weak that I could neither 
move hand nor foot, yet I could feel my Saviour's arm 
around and underneath me to hold me up." 



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1 



Singing of " Come to Jesus." 



329 



A Dying Boy's Fmph^sis to a Hymn. 

§X a Saturday night, during a Sunday school teachers' 
meeting, a sudden rap was heard at the lecture-room 
door of a Presbyterian church in St. Louis. 
The pastor, Rev. Dr. McCook, was sent for in 
haste to see a little dying boy. He found it was at the 
house of a noted gambler. This man was on bended 
knees beside his child. Said he: "Pray for him. Do 
any thing you can." After prayer the boy's lips were 
observed to move. They found he was trying to say, 
"Sing! singl" So Dr. McCook sang the words: — 

u Come to Jesus, come to Jesns, 
Come to Jesus, just now, 
Just now, come to Jesus 
Come to Jesus, just now. 

" He will save jou, he will save you, 
He will save you, Just now, 
Just now, he will save you, 
He will save you, just now. " 

As the words, "Just now" were being repeated the boy 
would fix his dying eyes on his father and try to empha- 
size by saying as loudly as he could, " Now, 7iow, now" 
whenever the word occurred in the hymn. 

Next morning: as the father stood on one side of the 
corpse and Dr. McCook on the other, the latter reechoed 
in the ears of the father, that emphatic " Now " that so 
earnestly escaped from the pale lips that lay silent 
between them. 

That gambler opened his heart to the sound, became 
a devoted Christian, renounced his life of sin )r united 
with Dr. McCook's church and remained a consistent 
member till at length he followed his little boy to the 
skies. 



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1 



130 



Krisna Pal. 



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A Precious Hymn by a Converted Idolator. 

RISNA PAL was among the 
first of the Hindoos who re- 
nounced caste and idolatry for 
Christ's sake. He was bap- 
tized at the close of the last 
century, in the river Ganges, 
near the missionary residence 
at Serampore. 

Dr. Belcher says of him, — 
" This man, then at the prime 
of life, being thirty-five years 
of age, became an eminent Christian, engaged in the 
ministry, which he pursued for many years, baptized 
many hundreds of converted idolators, and then died 
triumphant in the Lord Jesus. Joyfully did he bear 
witness that the service of Christ l was the work of love/ 
and that in it i he got nothing but joy and comfort.' 
He wrote two or three hymns, one of which continues 
to be sung in India in the Bengalee language, in which 
it was composed ; and a part of it, translated into Eng- 
lish, is printed in most of our books. " The first verse 
reads : — 

11 thou, my soul, forget no more 

The friend who all thy sorrows bore ; 
Let every idol be forgot; 

But, my soul, forget him not. " 

The last verse was strikingly illustrated in his peace- 
ful death. 

u Ah, no ! till life itself depart, 

His name shall cheer and warm my heart ; 
And lisping this, from earth I'll rise, 
And join the chorus of the skies." 



1/ 




KRISNA PAL. 



Krishna PaVs hymn. 



333 



•#f 



Krishna Pal was brought in contact with the gospel 
through a broken limb, which the missionary was 
called in to set. This man of God, after adminis- 
tering surgical aid, spake to him of the more awful dis- 
ease of sin, and of God's goodness in providing a great 
Physician. 

Krishna was much affected by the story of the cross, 
and soon after professed faith in the crucified. During 
his baptism, Grigg's hymn was sung in Bengalee: — 

"Jesus, and shall it ever be, 

A mortal man ashamed of thte ? " 

He not only built himself a house for worship, but in 
1804, was set apart for the work of the ministry. Dr. 
Gary described him as "a steady, zealous. w r ell-informed, 
and I may add, eloquent minister of the gospel ," aver- 
aging twelve to fourteen sermons a week. 

In such self-denying labors he continued for twenty 
years at the small salary of six dollars a month. 

We append the other verses of his hymn, referred to 
on another page : — 

"Jesus for thee a body takes, 

Thy guilt assumes, thy fetters breaks, 
Discharging all thy dreadful debt; — 
And canst thou e'er such love forget? 

"Renounce thy works and ways with grief, 
And fly to this most sure relief; 
Nor Him forget who left his throne, 
And for thy life gave up his own. 

"Infinite truth and mercy shine 
In Him, and he himself is thine ; 
And canst thou then, with sin beset, 
Such charms, such matchless charms forget? 

"Ah ! no — when all things else expire, 
And perish in the general fire, 
This name all others shall survive, 
And through eternity shall live. " 




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Ot54 



Ray Palmer, 



C 



Origin of "My faith looks up to Thee." 

(|. HIS universal favorite was written by Ray Palmer, 

Q£ D. D., an eminent Congregational minister of Albany, 

New York.* He was born in Rhode Island in 1808. 

This hymn was written in New York in December 
1830, just after he had left Yale College. 

He says it was " written because it was born in his 
heart and demanded expression. 'I gave form to what 
I felt by writing, with little effort, the stanzas. I recol- 
lect I wrote them with very tender emotjpn, and ended 
the last line with tears. ' " 

The manuscript was laid away in his pocket-book and 
carried with him for some two years, until one day, while 
in Boston, he met on the street Dr. Lowell Mason, who 
told him of a new book he was about to issue, and asked 
him to furnish a few hymns for it. Palmer at once 
reached in his pocket and brought out the lines. 

Soon after receiving the hymn, Dr. Mason said to 
young Palmer: " You may live many years, and do many 
good things, but I think you will be best known to pos- 
terity as the author of this hymn" — a prophecy that is 
already fulfilled. This hymn is now known, loved and 
sung as far as the English language extends, and has 
been translated in many foreign tongues. 

One day during the insurrection in Syria, the students 
in a Protestant seminary were having their morning wor- 
ship. When singing the third verse of this hymn, — 

" While life's dark maze I tread, 
And griefs around me spread.'' 

they were being surrounded by the savage Druzes, who 
were firing in the streets and were ready to enter the 
chapel. 

As a little one was being put to bed she told her 
mother how bad she had felt during the day because of 




n 



* .Now of Newark, N.J. 



Palmer s hymn. 



335 



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her sins, and how she had gone to "Frankie's room and 
prayed all by myself." Said she: 

" I asked Jesus, and he helped me right away. Now, 
mamma, please sing, — 

11 ' Taks all my sins away. ' " 

"I have heard you sing it a good deal to-day, Lily." 
"Oh, yes; but I (Ion' know the whole, and I want you 
to sing it over and over until I go to sleep. " 

"My faith looks up to Thee, 
Thou Lamb of Calvary, 

Saviour divine ! 
Now hear me while I pray, 
Take all my sins away ; 
Oh may I from this clay 

Be wholly thine f " 

Gladly the mother responded to this touching request? 
and sang these words "over and over," until the little 
one sank asleep on the bosom of Him, who can — 

" Take all my sins away. " 

While we were penning these lines it was our privilege 

to have an interview with Dr. Palmer, at his residence 

in Newark, N. J., at which he said that he had received, 

he supposed, a hundred testimonies in the form of letters, 

and others relating to the happy effect produced by this 

hymn. Of those that came under his own observation 

he related the following: While preaching at Albany, a 

young man, who had been accustomed to attend upon 

his ministry, came one Sunday morning to his church, 

some time before the hour of service; to pass away the 

time he opened a hymn-book that lay in the pew. His 

eyes lit at once upon the words : — 

" My faith looks up to Thee, 
Thou Lamb of Calvary, 
Saviour divine ! " 

It was just the language suited to his sin-burdened 



$) 



336 



Palmer's, hymn. 



heart. While reading the hymn the Spirit applied the 
truth with divine power, so that he looked at once to 
Jesus and lived. 

Calling afterwards at the residence of Dr. Palmer, to 
tell how he had found the Saviour, he learned to his 
great joy, for the first time, that the one to whom he was 
telling the story of his conversion had written the hymn. 

At another time, a lady in the choir, who sometimes 
sang a solo at the close of service, chose this hymn as her 
anthem. To such an unusual degree did she throw her 
soul into it, and bring out each word with emphasis and 
power, that the audience seemed to listen with breathless 
silence. It was her last solo on earth. Next morning 
she was found dead in bed. 

How appropriate, therefore, the last verse with which 
she ended her song: 

11 When ends life's transient dream, 
When death's cold sullen stream, 

Shall o'er me roll, 
Blest Saviour then in love, 
Fear and distrust remove ; 
bear me safe above, 
A ransomed soul ! " 

tAMUEL POTTER of Calmstock, England, on the 
last Sabbath he spent on earth sang with his family 
at the evening worship: — 

" God moves in a mysterious way, ;? etc. 
Afterwards he sang this verse as a solo : — 

" Oft as I lay me down to rest, 

may the reconciling word, 
Sweetly compose my weary breast. 
While on the bosom of my Lord, 

1 sink in blissful dreams away, 
And visions of eternal day\ " 

Rising from his bed in the morning he said : " "Well? 
my work is almost done, " and then sank down a corpse. 



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Palmer's hymn. 



337 




"Who is like Jesus." 

Sjf N nearly every revival there are certain hymns that 
^i become identified with it, and that seem especially 
adapted to give expression to existing feelings. We 
have found none better to put in the lips of the anxious 
than' Palmer's 

" My faith looks up to Thee. " 

At a meeting in Drums, Pa., where over two hundred 
became subjects of Divine grace, it became, night after 
night for nearly three months, the spontaneous utterance 
of the many who crowded around the gate of mercy. 

During an extensive awakening in Shippensburg, Pa., 
in 1869, as one and another found Him who is the "fair- 
est among ten thousand and the one altogether lovely," 
the natural and continued outburst of praise, seemed to be 
the chorus words, "O, who is like Jesus." 

The multitude that crowded the streets on the way to 
church seemed to be, in number, like those who "fly as 
a cloud and as the doves to their windows." 

The interest awakened by the first week's course of 
"Illustrated Sermons" spread so extensively, that the 
young men drew up a petition to their employers to close 
the stores at seven o'clock, that they might attend church, 
and the simultaneous closing of store shutters reverber- 
ating through the streets became our church bell. 

Such crowds attended that they filled the seats and 
aisles, sat on each other's laps, and crowded the pulpit- 
steps and floors, that one church sank six inches in the 
centre through the weight of those packed within. 

By my side is a little book filled with the autograph 
signatures of the many, who, having found a Saviour, so 
frequently and so heartily loved to sing: — 

" Who is like Jesus. " 



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338 



Edward Perronet. 




r 



Author of "All hail the power of Jesus' name." 

HIS widely known hymn first appeared in 1780 in 
The Gospel Magazine. It was written by Rev. 
Edward Perronet, a son of an Episcopal clergyman, 
who preached fifty years at Shoreham, England. Charles 
Wesley refers familiarly to him in his diary as " Ned, " 
and as a companion and co-laborer. He had a brother 
Charles, who also entered the ministry, both of whom 
labored with Wesley for some time. Charles " desisted 
for want of health," and Edward " from some change in 
his opinions. Charles Perronet died at Canterbury in 
1776, but his brother survived him many years, and 
possessed equal powers with him, to which was super- 
added a large fund of wit. " 

He labored in the employ of Lady Huntingdom, and 
preached with marked success at Canterbuiy, Norwich, 
and other parts of England. 

In his last years he had charge of a congregation of 
dissenters at Canterbury, where he died, January, 1792. 
His dying words were: "Glory to God in the height of 
His divinity; glory to God in the depth of His human- 
ity; glory to God in His all-sufficiency, and into His 
hands I commend my spirit." Thus with his dying 
breath he tried to 

" crown him Lord of all. " 



This hymn had originally eight verses, and was en- 
titled, "On the Resurrection." 

Shrubsole, an organist at SpafiekFs Chapel, London, 
composed a tune called "Miles' Lane. " This was gen- 
erally sung to it, until it became wedded to " Coronation." 

In 1785 his poems and hymns were collected in a vol- 
ume entitled, "Oecasional Verses, Moral and Sacred, 
published for the Instruction and Amusement of the 
Serious and Religious. " 



1 



Perronet's hymn. 



339 



*€^ 



The Original of " All hail the power of Jesus' name. " 



$- 



" All hail the power of Jesus' name ! 
Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
To crown him Lord of all ! 

" Let high-born seraphs tune the lyre, 
And, as they tune it. fall 
Before his face who tunes their choir, 
And crown him Lord of all ! 

'• Crown him, ye morning stars of light, 
Who fixed this floating ball ; 
Now hail the Strength of Israels might, 
And crown him Lord of all ! 

" Crown, him ye martyrs of your God, 
Who from his altar call ; 
Extol the stems of Jesse's rod, 
And crown him Lord of all ! 

" Ye seed of Israel's chosen race, 
Ye ransomed of the fall, 
Hail him who saves you by his grace, 
And crown him Lord of all ! 

"Hail him, ye heirs of David's line, 

Whom David Lord did call, 

The God incarnate, man divine ! 

And crown him Lord of all ! 

" Finners, whose love can ne'er forget 
The wormwood and the gall, 
Go, spread your trophies at his feet, 
And crow n him Lord of all ! 

"Let every kindred and every tongue 
That bound creation's call 
Now shout in universal song. 
The crowned Lord of all. " 



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340 



Pcrronet's hymn 



r 



"All hail the power of Jesus' name!" among- Savages. 

4{ EV. E. P. Scott, while laboring as a missionary in 
(?b India, saw on the street one of the strangest looking 
heathen his eves had ever lit upon. On inquiry he 
found that he was a representative of one of the inland 
tribes that lived away in the mountain districts, and 
which came down once a year to trade. 

Upon further investigation he found that the gospel 
had never been preached to them, and that it was very 
hazardous to venture among them because of their mur- 
derous propensities. He was stirred with earnest desires 
to break unto them the bread of life. He went to his 
lodging-place, fell on his knees, and plead for divine di- 
rection. Arising from his knees, he packed his valise, 
took his violin, with which he was accustomed to sing, 
and his pilgrim staff, and started in the direction of the 
Macedonian cry. 

As he bade his fellow missionaries farewell, they said: 
" We will never see you again. It is madness for you to 
go." "But," said he, "I must carry Jesus to them." 

For two days he travelled without scarcely meeting a 
human beinir, until at last he found himself in the mount- 
ains, and suddenly surrounded by a crowd of savages. 

Every spear was instantly pointed at his heart. He 

expected that every moment would be his last. Not 

knowing of any other resource, he tried the power of 

singing: the name of Jesus to them. Drawing forth his 

violin, he began with closed eyes to sing and play : — 

" All hail the power of Jesus' name ! 
Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown him Lord of all. " 

Being afraid to open his eyes, he sang on till the third 
verse, and while singing the stanza, — 



~M 



Perronet's hymn. 



341 



iff 



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" Let every kindred, every tribe, 
On this terrestrial ball, 
To Him all majesty ascribe, 
And crown Him Lord of all, " 

he opened his eyes to see what they were going to do, 
when lo ! the spears had dropped from their hands, and 
the big tears were falling from their eyes. 

They afterwards invited him to their homes. He 
spent two and a half years among them. His labors 
were so richly rewarded that when he was compelled to 
leave them because of impaired health and return to this 
country, they followed him between thirty and forty miles. 
"Oh! missionary," said they when parting, "come back 
to us again. There are tribes beyond us which never 
heard the glad tidings of salvation. " He could not re- 
sist their entreaties. After visiting America he went 
back again to continue his labors, till he sank into the 
grave among them. 

This interesting story of the happy effects of singing 
this good old hymn was related to William Reynolds 
Esq. of Peoria, 111., by the missionary himself, while in 
this country trying to regain his health, and by Mr. Rey- 
nolds to the author of this volume. 



" Crown Him Lord of all. " 



fHE coronation of George III. was attended with great 
applause. Afterwards, when the two Archbishops 
came to him to hand him down from the throne, to 
receive the sacrament, he told them he could not ap- 
proach the Lord's supper, with a crown upon his head, 
for he could not dare thus to appear before the King ot 
kings. The Bishops replied, that, although there was no 
precedent for this, his request should be complied with. 
Having laid it aside, he requested that the same might be 
done with the crown of the queen. 








342 



Perronefs hymn. 



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"Bring forth the royal diadem." 

Sunday school teacher was dying. Just before he 

sank away he turned to his daughter, who was bending 

most lovingly over his bed, and said, •■' Bring — " 

More he could not say, for the power of utterance 

failed him. His child looked with earnest gaze in his 

face and said : 

"What shall I bring, my father?" 
"Bring—" 

His child was in an agony of desire to know that dying 
father's last request, and she said : " Dear precious father, 
do try to tell me what you want. I will do anything 
you wish me to do. " 

The dying teacher rallied all his strength and finally 
murmured : — 

" Bring — forth — the royal diadem, 
And crown him Lord of all. " 



" Crown him ! crown him ! crown him ! " 

POOR child's funeral! A wagon for a hearse, and 
only a cart with three poor people in it to follow it! 
A very poor funeral indeed ! 
Yes, it was a poor funeral, but it was preceded by a 
glorious death. The child in that coffin had learned to 
pray and to trust in the Lord Jesus. He was therefore 
a prince in disguise. While he was dying his father sung 
these lines for him several times : — 

" All hail the power of Jesus' name ! 
Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown him Lord of all. " 

Whenever he came to the last line the dying boy would 
brighten up, and join in and sing, " Crown him ! Crown 
him ! Crown him ! " leaving his father to finish the line. 



W 



Good effects of singing. 



343 



"•f 



The Hymn that Told Jack's Experience. 

tN a parish in England, there was an old sailor, who 
went by the name of Jack. In going along the street 
one day he heard a number of women singing : — 

" I'm a poor sinner, 
And nothing at all ; 
But Jesus Christ 
Is my all in all. " 

The man gave up his drunkenness, and very soon gave 
up his wickedness. At last Jack went to the minister 
and asked to be admitted to church membership. The 
minister asked, "What is your experience?" "I have 
none," said Jack. "Well then, John, I cannot admit 
you." "Well," says Jack, "I have no experience, but 

" I'm a poor sinner, 
And nothing at all ; 
But Jesus Christ 
Is my all in all. " 

"Well," says the minister, "I will ask the deacons 
about your admission ; but you will be expected to state 
your experience. " The deacons were assembled, and 
Jack was called on to answer their questions, to which 
Jack always replied: — 

" I'm a poor sinner, 
And nothing at all ; 
But Jesus Christ 
Is my all in all. " 

Says the old deacon, "That is not enough; tell us your 
doubts and fears, and why you seek admission. " " Nay, " 
says Jack, "I have no doubt whatever that 

' I'm a poor sinner, 
And nothing at all ; 

and I don't fear anything, 

But Jesus Christ 
Is my all in all. " 

Jack was admitted, and to the end led a Christian life. 




c 



£ 



344 



Robert Robinson, 




AUTHOR OF " COME THOU FOUNT. " 



r 



^L HYMN almost as well known as " Rock of ages " is 

^6<p " Come thou fount of every blessing " 

It was written by Robert Robinson, of Cambridge, 
England who was born 1735. 

He was but a lad when he strolled into the Tabernacle 
to hear Whitfield preach. He was startled, arrested 
and determined then and there to give his life to God. 

Gifted with extraordinary talent he entered upon the 
ministry, and in the Tabernacle moved his audience to 
enthusiasm with his powerful preaching. 

But unstable as water, and as a wave of the sea, he 
went from one thing to another until at last he became an 
avowed Socinian. 

In the darkness which encompassed him, sometimes 
a ray of the light of former years would fall across his 
path, and then would flash upon him 

" The blessedness I knew 
When first I saw the Lord." 

One day he was travelling by coach with a lady, a 
stranger to him, she had been reading his hymn 

" Come thou fount of every blessiug. " 

Turning to him she asked him if he knew it, and tell- 
ing him of the comfort and happiness it had been to her. 

He tried to parry her questions, but she returned to 
it again and again, until at length bursting into a flood 
of tears, he exclaimed passionately, " Madam. I am the 
poor, unhappy man who composed that hymn many 
years ago; and Iivould give a thousand ivorlds if I had 
them, to enjoy the feelings I had then. " 

On Wednesday morning June 9th, 1790 he was 
found dead in bed, having expired, as he often express- 
ed his wish to do, " softly, suddenly and alone. ,: 




ROBERT ROBINSON. 



Robert Robinson. 



347 




C 



Robinson's father having died when he was young 
his widowed mother, while struggling with poverty 
found herself unable to give him that education he de- 
sired. Therefore at the age of fourteen he was appren 
ticed to a hairdresser in London. 

But his thirst 'for knowledge caused his master to 
complain that he gave more attention to his books 
than to his business. 

The means that led to his conversion were quite sing- 
ular. Walking out one day with several companions 
their attention was called to an old woman who pre- 
tended to tell fortunes. Robinson was informed among 
other things that he would live to a very old age and 
see a long line of descendants. 

"And so," said he when alone, "lam to see children, 
grandchildren, and great grand-children. I will then," 
thought he, "during my youth, endeavor to store my 
mind with all kinds of knowledge. I will see, and hear, 
and note down everything that is rare and wonderful, 
that I may sit, when incapable of other employments, 
and entertain my dcscendents. Thus shall my company 
be rendered pleasant, and I shall be respected, rather than 
neglected, in old age. Let me see, what can I acquire 
first? Oh, here is the famous Methodist preacher, White- 
field; he is to preach here, they say to-night; I will go 
and hear him. " 

From these strange motives, as he told the celebrated 
Rev. Andrew Fuller, he went to hear Whitefield preach. 
That evening his text was, "But when he saw many of 
the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his Baptism, he said 
unto them, O generation of vipers who hath warned you 
to flee from the wrath tocome?" "Mr. Whitefield," said 
Robinson, "described the Saddueees' character; this did 
not touch me; I thought myself as good a Christian as 
any man in England. From this he went to that of the 




w 



348 



Robinson continued. 



Pharisees. He sketched their exterior decency, but observ- 
ed, that the poison of the viper rankled in their hearts 
This rather shook me. At length, in the course of his 
sermon, he abruptly broke off; paused for a few mo- 
ments; then burst into a flood of tears, lifted up his hand 
and eyes, and exclaimed, 'Oh, my hearers, the wrath to 
come! the wrath to comeV These words sunk into my 
heart like lead in the water: I wept, and when the ser- 
mon was ended retired alone. For days and weeks I 
could think of little else. Those awful words would fol- 
low me wherever I went: 'The wrath to come! The 
wrath to come? '" 

After wandering for some time like a wounded deer, 
pierced with the arrows of conviction, he was found De- 
cember 10th, 1755, of one, of whom he afterwards so 
sweetly wrote in the language of his hymn. — 

"Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
Wandering from the fold of God j 
He, to n-scue me from danger, 
Interposed his precious blood. " 

Another grand hymn that displays the genius of Rob- 
inson, and that is often sung, originally commenced, — 

" Miglity God ! while angels bless thee 
May an infant lisp thy name ! " 

The word "mortal," is often now taken for "infant." 
Dr. Belcher says that this was "composed for the use 
of the late excellent Benjamin Williams, Esq., for many 
years, senior deacon of the first Baptist church at Read- 
ing a man of great influence and usefulness. When a little 
boy, Benjamin sat on Robinson's knee while he wrote 
this hymn, who, after having read it to him, placed it in 
his hand. 

"Well do we remember the deep feeling with which 
the venerable man described to us the scene as we sat 
with him at his own fireside." 



c 



Robert Robinson continued. 



349 




C 



*' Tune my heart to sing thy grace- 




A VY illustrations can be given of this line of " Come 
thou Fount." "Do you wish to sing as angels 
sing? Ask of God an heavenly mind. A harp must 
be tunttd before it makes good music. And when the 
heart is put in tune, well warmed with the love of God, 
singing proves delightsome service, and a heavenly feast." 

A pastor, who is now filling a Philadelphia pulpit, and 
has already added many jewels to the Saviour's crown, 
in giving his experience to the author, says that it was 
the marked contrast between heart service and lip service 
in singing, that led to his conversion. 

When a young man he was attending the dedication 
of a new church in a dark corner of Pennsylvania, a sec- 
tion at that time bitterly opposed to vital godliness, and 
frozen over with a dead religious formalism. 

A revival had brought together a little proving band 
who were consecrating their new building with a "living 
sacrifice" of praise. The fires of persecution, as well as 
the pentecostal flames from above had melted away all 
discord from the heart, so that the singing sounded forth 
upon the crowd of listeners with melting power. Among 
this group was our friend standing on a log under the trees, 
some distance away from the church. Hitherto he had 
prided himself upon his abilities as a choir-leader, but 
while under the sound of these heart-tuned voices he felt 
as if he had yet to learn the rudiment of Christian singing. 

With trembling and tears he left that hallowed ground, 
and resolved to get his heart right before he would sing 
again. He at once resigned his position in the church 
of which he was a communicant member, and when the 
reason was asked, he replied that he was no longer going 
to mock his God with lip-service, while his heart was 
out of tune and far from him. 



1 



850 



John Ryland. 



Q 



A Hymn Composed Luring a Sermon. 

tN many books is found the hymn, commencing — 
" In all my Lord's appointed ways 

My journey I'll pursue ; 
' Hinder me not, ' ye much-loved saints, 
For I must go with you. ; ' 

It was written by Rev. John Ryland, D. D., an emi- 
nent Baptist minister, born in England in 1753. Blest 
with a pious mother, he was early taught, as Doddridge 
was, with Scripture lessons that adorned their fire-place. 

When five years old he could read Hebrew, and at 
nine the entire New Testament in Greek. At fourteen 
he united with his father's church. At eighteen he 
preached his first sermon. 

While pastor of the Baptist church at Northampton 
the hymn referred to above thus took its rise: — 

" Several stage coaches daily passed through the town; 
and, as the good pastor lived at no great distance from 
the inn where they exchanged horses, he contrived 
to meet every evangelical minister who passed through 
the town, and not unfrequently almost compelled them 
to stay a day on the road, that they might give his peo- 
ple a sermon in the evening. On one occasion he had 
thus treated a brother in the ministry, who most reluc- 
tantly yielded and appeared in the pulpit with the text, 
' Hinder me not/ Gen. xxiv. 56. Dr Ryland, as is 
still customary in England, sat in the desk below the 
pulpit to read the hymns; and, as his brother proceeded, 
every 'head of discourse' was * turned into poetry/ which 
at the end of his sermon was duly read and a portion of 
it sung. " In eight verses of the hymn the text was re- 
peated. He is the author of ninety-nine hymns, the most 
popular being those commencing, "Sovereign 'Ruler of 
the skies/" and "O Lord! I would delighf in Thee." 



1 




JOHN RYLAND. 



Ryland continued. 



353 



C 



He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from 
Brown University of Rhode Island, America. In 1794, 
lie accepted the presidency of the Baptist College at 
Bristol, together with the pastorate of Broadmead Chapel. 
In this twofold capacity, he continued to labor till his 
death, which took place in 1825, in the seventy-third 
year of his age. His last utterance was, " No more pain." 
His eminent successor, Robert Hall, passed a high eu- 
logium upon him, as a pastor, preacher, tutor, and 
author. 

The following is doubtless his best hymn, and is fre- 
quently sung: — 

" Lord, I would delight in thee, 
And on thy care depend; 
To thee in every trouble flee 
My best, my only friend." 

" When all created streams are dried, 
Thy fulness is the same ; 
Way I with this be satisfied, 
And glory in thy name. 

" No good in creatures can be found, 
But may be found in thee ; 
I must have all things, and abound 
While God is God to me. 

" ! that I had a stronger faith, 
To look within the vei!, 
To credit what my Saviour saith,* 
Whose word can never fail." 

This hymn was issued in 1777, and consisted originally 
of seven verses. He makes the following note in re- 
lation to it, in the original manuscript: "I recollect 
deeper feelings of mind in composing this hymn, than 
perhaps I ever felt in making another." 

His was a busy intellectual life, writing hymns even 
in his childhood, and gradually ascending the scale of 
honor, till he became one of the most eminent Hebrew 
scholars, and Theologians of his day. 



W 



354 



Hans Sachs. 



r 



The Shoemaker Kymn- Writer. 

f/VNS SACHS was a remarkable man. Born of poor 
parents at Nuremberg in 1494, he was obliged in 
early life to leave his sehool for the bench of the 
shoemaker. At twenty he wrote his first poem, which 
was a hymn of praise to God. Afterwards he wrote many 
poems and hymns, which he would sing in the hearing 
of the people, and during five years visited many cities, 
working at his trade and singing wherever he went. 

When the great Reformation under Luther commenced, 
Sachs was a young man of twenty-three. He at once 
joyfully embraced the good cause, and helped it along by 
writing and singing a great number of hymns and relig- 
ious songs. These quickly followed one another and 
were scattered far and wide. 

He is spoken of as "the best poet of his day; the one 
who linked the times that were passing to the new period 
that was coming in, 

"'While dawn was piercing through the night;' 

for he characteristically belonged to the Middle Ages, 
and yet was among the earliest and warmest adherents of 
the Reformation." 

His pure and unostentatious life won for him great 
favor although he was represented in old doggrel rhyme as 

"Hans* Sachs, who was a shoe- 
Maker, and a poet too." 

Says one,' "His poetry is distinguished by its heartiness, 
good sense, homely, genuine morality and freshness, its 
clear and healthy humor, and its skillful manipulations 
of material." 

After writing poetry for fifty-two years, he took an 
account of his work, when he found that he had produced 
upwards of six thousand and two hundred pieces of var- 
ious kind. In 1558 he had the pleasure of seeing the 



2/ 



Sachs continued. 



357 



"•f 



fruit of his poetic life gathered in five folio volumes. 

In his old age he spent his time mostly at a table pe- 
rusing the pages of his much-used Bible, of which he 
said in one of his hymns : — 

" 'Twill make thee pure and holy, 
And teach thee that in Jesus lies 
Our hope and comfort solely.'' 

He passed away, January 25, 1576, being in his eighty ^ 
second year. His well -cared -for grave is still to be seen 
in his native city. We give herewith the most famous 
of his German hymns, written during the seige of Nu- 
remberg in 1561 : — 

" Warum betruebst du dich mein Hertz?" 

Entitled, " Reliance upon God in Trial." It has been 
thus translated by Rev. M. Sheeleigh : — 

"Why vail thyself in gloom, my heart, 
And grieve thyself with bitter smart 

Concerning earthly good? 
With humble trust do thou rely 
On God, who made the earth and sky. 

"He cannot, will not, turn from thee; 
Thy wants His eye full well doth see ; 

Heaven and earth are His. 
My father and my God, indeed, 
Will keep me in each time of need. 

"While Thou my God and Father art, 
From me, Thy child, thou wilt not part 

tenderest Father thou ! 
A helpless one of dust my birth, 
No comfort do I find in earth. 

"When others to their riches cling, 
A trusting heart to God I bring ; 

And though I be despised, 
This still my steadfast faith must be, — 
He shall not want who trusts in thee. " 



c 



i) 



358 



Waiter Shirley. 



r 



l - Feace, troubled soul, whose plaintive moan." 
" Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing. " 



/|)HE hymns commencing thus are often sung. They 
^ were written by Hon.* and Bev. Walter Shirley, who 
was born of a noble family in England, 1725. 

He was a first cousin of the devoted Countess of Hun- 
tingdon, and a frequent visitor to her London residence, 
where he became acquainted with Wesley and Whitefield. 

After preaching in the chapels of Lady Huntingdon, 
and elsewhere with great success, he was called to fill 
the Episcopal pulpit at Loughrea, Ireland, where he 
spent the most of his life. 

When the missionaries from Lady Huntingdon's Col- 
lege were about starting for America in 1772, he showed 
his interest in the work by writing the hymn: — 

'' Go, destined vessel, heavenly freighted, go, 
For lo i the Lord's ambassadors are there, " 

He felt and manifested gi*eat sympathy for the great Meth- 
odist movement of his day, and was willing to bear bit- 
ter persecution in its behalf. 

In 1760, he seemed much broken down by the execu- 
tion of his brother, the Earl Ferrars, for shooting his 
servant. He wrote to Wesley, saying, "I have reason 
to bless God for the humbling lessons he has taught me 
through these awful visitations. " 

It is supposed that this sad occurrence gave rise to 

that well known hymn of his: — 

" Peace, troubled soul, whose plaintive moan 
Has taught these rocks the notes of woe. " 

As he grew in years he advanced in zeal and grace. 
When unable to leave the house because of a painful 
disease, he preached from bis chair in his sick room to 
the manv who flocked to hear him. The numbers fre- 
quently filling every available space in the house. 



£ 



8. F. Smith. 



359 



Origin of " My country, 'tis of thee. " 

GO 

1|EV. S. F. Smith D. D. an eminent New Eng- 
(^ land Baptist minister, is the author of this and 
some thirty other hymns. In answer to some inqui- 
ries concerning the composition of this hymn, lie says: 

"One day, I think in the month of February, 1831 
or '32, in turning over the leaves of music books, I fell 
in with the tune 'God save the King/ though I did not 
know it at that time to be the English national air. I 
at once wrote a patriotic hymn in the same measure and 
spirit, and soon after gave it to Mr. Lowell Mason, to- 
gether with other pieces, and thought no more of it. On 
the next 4th of July, I found that the piece was brought 
out for the first time at a children's celebration of the day 
in Park street church, Boston. This was the beginning 
of its course. It gradually found its way into music 
books for children, and into public schools in various 
places; and thus I cannot but think, may have had an 
influence in infusing into many childish hearts a love of 
country, which prepared them to battle for the right, 
the true and the good, when the time of peril to our in- 
stitutions and our country came. 

" I have often remarked that if I had supposed the 
piece would have been so popular, I should have taken 
more pains to perfect it. ' Yes,' says some one, 'and 
thus, perhaps, you would have spoiled it.' It has won 
its way, most unexpectedly to myself, into the hearts of 
the people. I have heard most gratifying narratives of 
the places where the circumstances under which it has 
served as the expression of heart-felt love of country — 
in schools, in huts, on Western prairies, in churches, on 
the eve of battle, and*in soldier's hospitals. I never de- 
signed it for a national hymn — I never supposed I was 
writing one." 



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360 



Anne Steele. 




Author of " The Saviour ! what endless charms. " 




NAME that will linger long in the memory of 
those who love to sing the songs of Zion, is that of 
Anne Steele. 

She was born in 1716, and was the eldest daughter 
of Rev. William Steele, pastor of the Baptist Church at 
Broughton, England. She united herself with the 
church when fourteen years of age, and remained in con- 
nection with her father's church till in her sixty second 
year she was transferred to the skies. When Rev. Henry 
Steele, her father's uncle and predecessor, had charge of 
'the church, he was so popular that the neighboring Epis- 
copal minister reported to his Bishop that his parish was 
sadly invaded by the dissenter. "How can I best op- 
pose him?" said he. "Go home and preach better than 
Henry Steele, and the people will return, " was the wise 
reply of Bishop Burnett. 

She commenced writing poetry in early life, but with- 
held her name. 

In her father's diary, dated Nov. 29. 1757, is made 
this entry concerning the issue of her first production: 

"This day, Nanny sent part of her composition to 
London, to be printed. I entreat a gracious God, who 
enabled, and stirred her up to such a work, to direct in 
it and bless it for the good of many. * * * * I pray 
God to make it useful, and keep her humble." 

Any one who traces the influences that her hymns 
have already wielded for over a century can see a boun- 
tiful answer to this father's prayer and solicitude. 

Having consented, in early life, to be wedded to Mr. 
Elscourt, a young man of promise, the day of the wed- 
ding was fixed. But a short time ^before the appointed 
hour, he went down in the r«iver to bathe, when getting 
beyond his depth, he was drowned. 



C 




Annie Steele's Residence. 



Anne Steele. 



c 



Through an accident in her childhood, Miss Steele 
was made a sufferer, and an invalid ail through life. 
In the retirement of her sick-chamber she was taught 
the lesson by experience, that she breathes out so sweetly 
in her hymn : — 

"Give me a calm, a thankful heart, 
From every murmur free; 
The blessings of Thy grace impart, 
And make me live to Thee." 

The death of her father in 1769 was a great shock to 
her frail tenement, from which she never fully recovered. 
From this time, she was confined to her chamber, and 
"looked with sweet resignation to the time of her 
removal from earth, and when it happily arrived, she 
was, amidst great pain, fall of peace and joy. She took 
the most affectionate leave of her friends who stood weep- 
ing around her, and uttering the triumphant words, ' I 
know that my Redeemer liveth/ closed her eyes, and 
fell asleep in Jesus." Thus she departed in 1778. 

The one hundred and forty-four hymns, and thirty- 
four Psalms that issued from her pen, she lay upon the 
altar as an entire consecration to Him she so dearly 
loved, and would only permit them to be published with 
the understanding that all the profits should go to be- 
nevolent objects. It is supposed "that no woman, and 
but few men, ever wrote so many hymns that have been 
so generally acceptable in the church as did Miss Steele. " 

One secret of the success of her hymns, no -doubt, is 
the warmth of her heart-breathings after Him, of whom 
she beautifully says: — 



"Jesus, my Lord, in Thy dear name unite 

All things my heart calls great or good or sweet; 
Divinest springs of wonder and delight, 

In Thee, Thou fairest often thousand, meet." 



1/ 



364 



James Sherman, 



Remarkable Effects Attending a Closing Hymn. 

f'^E V.JAMES SHERMAN relates the following:— 
"In the early part of the year 1837, I preached one 
Sabbath evening from Mark iv, 36, 'And there were 
also with him other little ships. ' The subject was the 
earnestness with which men must seek for Christ, and 
the risk they must be willing to run to find him. 

"As I proceeded in the illustrations and enforcement of 
the principles stated, there came from heaven a celestial 
breeze, and one little ship after another seemed to start in 
search of Christ, until they became a fleet. 

"They were melted into penitance and tears. Never 
shall I forget the impression made when at the close of 
the sermon I gave out the hymn : — 

"Jesus, at thy command, 
I launch into the deep." 

"When I descended from the pulpit, both vestries and 
the school-room were rilled with persons anxious to con- 
verse with me. I began to talk with them one at a time, 
During my converse, and after he had waited more 
than an hour, a gentleman of some position knocked at 
my vestry door, and said, i Sir here are enough to fill 
twenty boats; what will you do with us?' Exhausted 
beyond measure, I kneeled down and prayed with them. 
The place was literally aBochim. 

" After pronouncing the benediction, I begged for them 
to retire, and come and see me on the morrow or on 
Tuesday. But some begged, as for their life, that I 
would converse with them for a few minutes. I remained 
among them until eleven o'clock, listening to their re- 
peated vows and anxious expressions of faith in Christ. 
Oh, it was worth dying for, to witness such a scene. 
After examination, many were admitted to the church, 




eight-four attributing their conversion to that sermon." 



c: 



w 



PedieortV s singing. 



365 



Drawn into the Gospel Net by Singing. 

URIVG the revolutionary war, shortly after the 
memorable 1776, there occurred a very interesting case 
of conversion in connection with the singing of the 
Rev. Caleb B. Pedicord amid the primitive forests of 
Maryland. He is described as " one of the saintliest men 
of his age. His voice, in both singing and preach- 
ing, had a dissolving power of tenderness." 

While on his circuit in Dorcester county, Md., he was 
riding slowly along to his appointment at Mount Holly. 
As his eye of faith was looking ahead at the bright man- 
sions of his Father's house, awaiting him at the end of 
life's journey, his overflowing heart began to sing aloud ; — 

"I cannot, I cannot forbear 

These passionate longings for home ; 
O when shall my spirit be there? 
when will the messenger come?" 

The echo of this song fell upon the ear of a young 
revolutionary soldier, who was wandering in an adjoining 
forest, as he listened his soul was stirred by the sweet 
melody of the voice, and the last two lines of the verse. 

" After he ceased, " writes the listening soldier, u I went 
out and followed him a great distance, hoping he would 
begin again. He however stopped at the house of a 
Methodist and dismounted. I then concluded he must 
be a Methodist preacher and would probably preach that 
evening." 

That evening the young soldier was drawn out to hear 
the singer again. The sermon was the power of God 
to his salvation. He at once enlisted as a soldier for 
Jesus, and afterwards became a prominent preacher, and 
formany years a founder of many churches. He was 
the widely known and much beloved Rev. Thomas 
Ware. 




c 



366 



Samuel Stennett. 



G 



Samuel Stennett and his Hymns. 



<@ 



(f; HOUGH grace does not run like blood in the veins, 
from one generation to another, yet the virtue of the 



$ 



prayers, and godly example of Christians, does 



often descend, through . the hearts of their children, 
to succeeding ages. A forcible illustration of this is given 
in the genealogy of the Stennetts. 

The Rev. Edward Stennett was the father of the Rev. 
Joseph Stennett, born in 1663, who wrote the precious 
Sabbath Hymn, commencing, 

" Another six days' work is done, 
Another Sabbath id begun ; 
Return my soul I enjoy thy rest, 
Improve the day thy God hath blessed." 

To him was born a son, in 1692, who became the cel- 
ebrated Rev. Joseph Stennett, D. D, a zealous Christian 
in early life, and afterwards a minister of high repute. 
He became the father of a son, whose likeness we give 
on the opposite page, the Rev. Samuel Stennett, D. D. 
A son of the latter, the Rev. Joseph Stennett, took his 
father's mantle, thus making the fifth link in the chain 
of ministers, descending through five generations. 

Samuel Stennett was born at Exeter, England, in 
1727. Ten years later, his father took charge of the 
Baptist church at Little Wild Street, London. There 
this son first became his assistant, and afterwards his 
successor. In this pastorate he continued for thirty-seven 
years, the remainder of Ids life. 

He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from 
King's College, at Aberdeen, in 1763, and was highly 
esteemed by his sovereign, George III. High prefer- 
ment was offered him in the Church of England, but 
faithful to his sense of duty, he declined, saying: "I 
dwell among mine own people." 



1) 




v\MUEL STENNETT. 



Stennett continued. 



369 



He was eminent in his literary attainments, and 
ranked with Addison in the style and force of his com- 
positions, How beautiful the language of his hymn that 
commences in some books : — ■ 

" Majestic sweetness sits enthroned 
Upon the Saviour's brow," 

During his last sickness, he gave expression to senti- 
ments similar to those found in the third verse :~ 

" He saw me plunged in deep distress , 
He flew to my relief; 
For me he bore the shameful cross, 
And carried all my grief." 

Some vinegar, mixed with other ingredients had been 
given him as a throat gargle, when, with much emotion, 
he said: "'And in his thirst they gave him vinegar to 
drink/ Oh when I reflect upon the sufferings of Christ, 
I am ready to ask, What have I been thinking of all 
my life? What he did and suffered are now my only 
support." 

In 1795, after the death of his wife, he had earnest 
longings to depart also, and could say in the language 
of his hymn: — 

" On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, 
And cast a wishful eye 
To Canaan's fair and happy land, 
Where my possessions lie." 

He died in 1795, aged sixty-eight. His hymns num- 
ber thirty-nine. In addition to the two popular ones, 
just referred to, we may mention the following as also 
frequently used : — 

u Come, every pious heart," 

" How charming is the place," 

" Here at thy table, Lord, we meet," 

u Prostrate, dear Jesus, at thy feet," 

" ' 'Tis finished ! ' so the Saviour cried." 




V 



370 



Samuel Stennett's hymn. 




" On Jordan's stormy banks I stand. " 

ISS BARBARA JEWITT'S 

departure was illustrative of 
the sentiments of this well- 
known hymn, issued by Sam- 
uel Stennett, in 1750. Says 
the Wesleyan Magazine: "On 
the day of her death she was 
sitting in her chair, in which 
she had sat for three weeks, 
and broke out into singing in 
a loud tone the delightful 
hymn : — 

" ' On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, 
And Ciist a wishful eye 
To Canaan's fair and happy land, 
Where my possessions lie.' 

Her relatives were alarmed, for she had only been able 
to speak in a whisper for some weeks. After singing 
half-an-hour, she requested this hymn to be given out, — 

" ' Come on my partners in distress,' 

in the singing of which she joined at intervals with earn- 
estness. ' Sing on, sing on/ she frequently said to her 
friends. Then, as if talking to angelic spirits, she said, 
'Stay, stay, I am not ready yet. ' She requested this 
hymn to be sung, — 

"'0 glorious hope of perfect love.' 
Her sight now failed her, and she asked her friends to 
come nearer and sing on. Whilst they were thus engaged 
she waved her hand round in triumph, and sang: — 

"'And makes me for some moments feast 
With Jesus's priests and king. ' 

She then fell back in her chair, and in a moment her 
spirit fled to the skies. 



r 



1/ 



Samuel Stennett's hymn. 



371 




"Infinite day excludes the night." 

LITTLE child, trying to solve the mystery of the 
heavens above, gave expression to this pretty thought: 
As, one evening, she was gazing upward with won- 
dering eyes, she said: "Ma, don't you think the stars are 
gimlet-holes that God has bored through the floor of 
heaven, to let its light shine down on earth." 

Heaven's light does reach earth, and often gilds the 
hilltops that overlook the valley of death. 

As the Rev. Thomas Scott was exchanging worlds, 
he exclaimed as he got a glimpse of the glory-land, 
" This is heaven begun. I have done with darkness for 
ever — for ever." 




YOUNG girl, whose life's journey was just ending, 
made a feeble effort to speak. Mother, father, sister, 
and all came closer to her side. A joyous smile lit 
up her countenance, she laid her little hand within her 
mother's palm, then closed her eye-lids to the light of 
earth, and sank away. The cold damp of death's shad- 
owy valley seemed circling over her. But see! the lips 
open again, and whisper the parting words : " Mother ! 
mother! I see a lightl I'm almost home!" 

S the shadows of death were gathering around the 
daughter of the Rev. Mr. Hughes of West Pennsyl- 
vania, she could no longer see the faces of loved ones 
that were bending over her couch, but. still able to move 
the tongue, she whispered: "Papa, I cannot see you. 
I'm going to the light-land where it's dark no more. " 

§HE father of the Rev. J. France of Baltimore, Md., 
when in the dark valley, cheered a weeping circle of 
friends by saying as his last words " I see light ahead. " 



J> 



372 



Samuel Stennett's hymn. 



Q 



Influence of a blind Slave's Song. 

COLLEGE student in Virginia, proud of his intel- 
lectual attainments, thought if he ever became a 
Christian it would be thiough an eloquent sermon of 
some distinguished pulpit orator. While hunting deer 
during a vacation he was drawn to a gorge far away in 
the mountains, by the sound of a sweet female voice, en- 
gaged in singing. As he drew nearer he recognized the 
, words of the hymn : — 

% " There is a happy land 
Far far away. " 

At length he perceived a log cabin, and an old female 
slave, with hair as white as snow, standing without at 
her wash tub singing away as though her heart was over- 
flowing with gladness. She was unusually tall and very 
straight. As the young student stood enchanted with 
the romantic scene, he found that she was also blind, and, 
as she kept on singing and washing, her happy soul would 
become so full of joy that she would stop washing, and, 
for a while straightening up, and turning her sightless 
eye-balls heavenward, would make the surrounding rocks 
and mountains ring as her joyful voice would sing: — 

"There is a land of pure delight 
Where saints immortal reign. " 

At length the student said to her, " Auntie, " I see you 
are blind?" "No, massa 



said she, 



"I is not blind." 

nor dese rocks, nor dese 

can see 



I can't see you, nor dese trees, 

mountains, but I can see into de kingdom. 

de " happy land, far, far, away. " 

The young student was so impressed with what he saw 
and heard that, from that time on, he was deeply con- 
victed of sin, and rested not till he found rest in Jesus. . 

He eventually became a minister, and told the author 
that the echo of that happy slave's song still follows him. 



I 



A happy singer. 



373 



C 



The Blind Man of the Mine. 

Q, had descended one thousand feet beneath the earth's 
jjjl surface, in the coal pits of the Mid Lotian Mines in 
*r Virginia, and was wandering through their dark, sub- 
terranean passages, when the sound of music at a little 
distance broke upon my ear. It ceased upon our approach, 
and I caught only the concluding sentiment of the hymn, 

" I shall be in Heaven in the morning. " 

On advancing with our lamps, we found the passage 
closed by a door, in order to give a different direction to 
the current of air for the purjwse of ventilation, yet this 
door must be opened occasionally to let the rail cars pass, 
loaded with coal. And to accomplish this, we found sit- 
ting by that door an aged blind slave, whose eyes had 
been entirely destroyed by a blast of gunpowder many 
years before, in that mine. There he sat, on a seat cut in 
the coal, from sunrise to sunset, day after day; his sole 
business being to open and shut the door, when he heard 
the rail cars approaching. We requested him to sing a- 
gain the hymn whose last line w r e had heard. It was one 
of those productions which we found the pious slaves were 
in the habit of singing, in part, at least, impromptu. But 
each stanza closed With the sentiment, 

a I shall be in Heaven in the morning. " 

It was sung with a clear and pleasant voice, and I could 
see the shrivelled, sightless eyeballs of the old man roll 
in their sockets, as if his soul felt the inspiring sentiments. 

There he stood, an old man, blind and enslaved-what 
could he hope for on earth ? He was buried, too, a thous- 
and feet beneath the solid rocks. There, from month to 
month, he sat in darkness. Oh, how utterly cheerless his 
condition ! And yet that one pleasant hope of a resurrection 
morning was enough to infuse peace and joy in his soul 




374 



Singing to save souls. 



C 



Singing a Man to Christ. 



4* 



'LL tell you what, I heard singin' to-night that 

<5fi> made me wish I was in heaven, or good enough to 
go there, " said an old backwoodsman to his wife, as, en- 
tering their log hut, he sat down to his evening meal. 

"Where did you hear it? she asked. 

" At our neighbor's up yonder. They must feel some- 
thing I don't know about, or they couldn't sing so. " 

" When they first came here," said the wife, " I thought 
they were proud and stiff; but they were real good neigh- 
bors, and I heard after they were good church folks too. " 

" Well, " said he, " I mean to go to church to-morrow, 
and see if I can't hear some singin' like that. " 

The singer knew that her neighbors were ignorant, 
rough, and unbelieving, nearing the decline of life, and 
unwilling to be approached on the subject of religion. 

One glorious summer evening, as the sun was going 
down, the lady seated herself at the window, and invol- 
untarily tuned her voice to sing. When near the close of 
the hymn, she cast her eyes to the field where her neigh- 
bor was at work, and saw that he was listening intently. 
Instantly the thought flashed into her mind, "Oh, if I 
could raise that poor man to think of heaven. " She clos- 
ed her refrain, and then commenced, 

" On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, " 

singing it " with the spirit and the understanding also. " 
And as she sang, the old man listened, almost spell- 
bound. The singer wished to glorify God by leading 
one of His creatures to think of Him. " I will sing God's 
praises whenever he can hear me, and perhaps he may 
be led to praise the Lord himself, " was her resolve. 

The next Lord's-day the old man was at church. This 
cheered the lady, and she said, " I will sing whenever he 



& 



Singing to save souls. 



375 



comes. " 



Ere another week was closed he was at work 

again. This time she sang, 

" Just as I am, without one plea, 

But that thy blood was shed for me. " 

Slowly, but distinctly she sang, that he might take in 
the full meaning of the words, and feeling their sweet 
pathos in her inmost soul she sang the hymn. The listen- 
er shook his head, and rubbed his hand quickly oyer 
his eyes. 

The next Lord's-day eyening he was among the peo- 
ple of God, earnestly inquiring the way of salyation. 

Being thus successful in bringino; the husband in the 
way of life, the singer next tried to draw the wife, and 
so one day inyited her into the parlor to hear her piano. 
She had never seen or heard such an instrument, and Avas 
wonderstruck. The lady called her daughters to her side, 
and all joined in singing, " All hail the power of Jesus' 
name," to the old tune. " Coronation. " 

" Do you like that ? " said the lady. 

" Oh, it's nice. I b'l'eve I heered that tune somewhere 
when I was a girl, but I've forgot. " 

"Probably you heard it at church. It is often sung 
there. We cannot sing the praises of Jesus too often, for 
He came to save us poor sinners. ' ; Then they all sang, 
" Come, humble sinner, in whose breast," etc. When the 
woman rose to go, she was invited to " Come again. n 
" Oh, I'll come often if I can hear you sing. " 

" Mother, you take a strange way to win souls? " 

" Why not, my daughter ? Has not God commanded 
that whatsoever we do, should be done to his glory ? And 
if He has given us voices to sing, should we not use them 
in his service? There are many ears that will listen to a 
hymn for the sake of the tune, that will not hear a word 
from the Bible. Our voices and our musical instruments 
should all be employed in winning lost souls." 



c 



376 



Hugh StowelVs hymn. 



c 



Appropriate Hymns amid Chicago's Fire. 

fHEN the flames seized the great house of worship 
" belonging to the First Baptist Church in Chicago, 
brethren, who had labored hard to save it, said, 
one to another, " Our house must go, but let us have one 
more prayer within its walls. " And they bowed before 
God in face of the coming flames, while one who had been 
wont to lead in the fire and thunder of battle, Jed the cry 
of these faithful heroes before the mercy seat. Then, ris- 
ing to their feet, they sang as they retreated: — 

" From every stormy wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes, 

There is a calm, a sure retreat — 
'Tis found beneath the mercy-seat. " 

The pastor of the New England Congregational church 
says that at the time when they were most afflicted by 
the loss of their beautiful edifice, a singular circumstance 
became known, which greatly cheered and encouraged 
them to put forth the most strenuous efforts to obtain the 
necessary means to rebuild. It seems that among the 
debris two bits of printed paper were found, one of which 
proved to be the only remaining fragment of a Bible, 
and the only legible portion was this verse, from 2nd 
Cor. v. 1 : " For we know that if our earthly house of 
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heav- 
ens. " The other was a scrap from the hymn-book, 
upon which were these words of the hymn, No. 1180 
from " Songs for the Sanctuary : " — 

" Daughter of Zion ! from the dust 

Exalt thy fallen head ; 
Again in thy Redeemer trust, 

He calls thee from the dead. 

Rebuild thy walls, thy bounds enlarge, 
And send thy heralds forth. " 



w 



Maria Sanders. 



377 



"That Sweet Music." 




v^z^S: 



ARIA Sanders was an atten- 
tive Sabbath school scholar. 
She was thirteen years old when 
she lay upon her death-bed. 
She was very thoughtful about 
religious things for several weeks 
before she was taken sick, and 
some thought she had become a 
Christian. 

During the first week of her 
sickness she was troubled in re- 
regard to her hope in Christ. But on Wednesday it be- 
came evident that she could not recover, and her father 
and mother, after a severe struggle alone with God, were 
able to say, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
away ; blessed be the name of the Lord. 

When they returned to Maria's room, she greeted them 
with a happy smile; and then, as if talking to Jesus, 
said, "Jesus, I can trust thee; love thee, blessed Jesus." 
A little later, looking upward, she said, "Oh, father, 
see those golden stars. " Upon this the family began to 
weep aloud. " Now you have driven them all away a- 
gain. " They hushed their crying, when she said, " There, 
I see them now. " 

It was the " Star in the East" that heralded the birth 
of Jesus, who is " the Bright and Morning Star ; " and 
might not the bright angels, whom Jesus sends to take 
his little ones home, look like golden stars'! 

A few hours before she died, she said, " Oh, hear that 
sweet music. Don't you hear it ? It is a comfort to know 
they will not get done singing until 1 get there. " w. T. s. 




r 



W 



378 



William Tennent. 



Kusic Heard While in a Trance. 



C 



QN the days of the Revolution lived Rev. William 
<«[ Tennent, who was pastor of, and now lies buried in 
^ the Freehold Presbyterian Church of N. J. He was 
a most faithful and successful minister in his day. 

His name is widely known in connection with his ap- 
parent death. For three days he remained in a trance. 
He had been ill in health, and emaciated in body until 
his life was despaired of. 

One morning he seemed to expire. He was laid out 
and preparations were made for his funeral. The body 
was stiff and cold, but the physician thought he detected 
symptoms of life, and desired a postponement of the 
funeral. His brother and others thought there were no 
signs of life, and insisted on the funeral. The doctor 
begged again, until the funeral was postponed. The 
people were assembled to bury him. The doctor again, 
and again plead for a postponement. 

At length Mr. Tennent opened his eyes, gave a 
dreadful groan, and relapsed again into apparent death. 
This movement was twice repeated after an interval of an 
hour, when life permanently remained, and the patient 
slowly recovered. 

He was totally ignorant of every transaction of his 
life previous to his sickness. He had to be taught read- 
ing, writing, and all things as if he was a new born in- 
fant. At length he felt a sudden shock in his head, and 
from that moment his recollection was by degrees re- 
stored. These circumstances made a profound impress- 
ion on the public mind. 

Mr. Tennent has left on record the account of his feel- 
ings when in a state of catalepsy. He said, " While I 
was conversing with my brother on the state of my soul, 
and the fears I had entertained of my future welfare, I 



1 



Tennent continued. 



379 




C 



found myself in an instant, in another state of existence 
under the direction of a Superior being, who ordered me 
to follow him. I was accordingly wafted along, I knew 
not how, till I beheld at a distance an ineffable glory, 
the impression of which on my mind, it is impossible to 
communicate to mortal man. I immediately reflected on 
my happy change, and thought, ' "Well, blessed be God ! 
I am safe at last, notwithstanding all my fears. ; I saw an 
innumerable host of happy beings surrounding the in- 
expressible glory, in acts of adoration, and joyous wor- 
ship : but I did not see any bodily shape or representa- 
tion in the glorious appearance. I heard things unutterable. 
I heard their songs and hallelujahs of thanksgiving and 
praise with unspeakable rapture. I felt joy unutterable 
and full of glory. I then applied to my conductor, and 
requested leave to join in the happy throng ; on which 
he tapped me on the shoulder and said, ' you must return 
to the earth.' This sounded like a sword through my 
heart. In an instant I recollected to have seen my broth- 
er standing before me disputing with the doctor. The 
three days during which I appeared to be lifeless, seemed 
to me about ten or twenty minutes. The idea of return- 
ing to this world of sorrow and trouble, gave me such a 
shock that I fainted repeatedly. " 

Mr. Tennent said that for three years, the ravishing 
sounds he had heard, and the words that were uttered 
were not out of his ears. He was often importuned to tell 
what words were uttered, but declined, saying, "you will 
know them, with many other particulars, hereafter, as 
you will find the whole among my papers/ 7 But they 
were never found. 

Tennent died on the 8th of March 1774, aged 71 years. 
Pastor of Freehold church, 43 years 6 months. 

Elias Boudenott D. D. 




_- . W 



380 



Augustus Toplady. 




Author of " Rock of Ages. " 

OCK of ages, " was written by 
Augustus Toplady. It first ap- 
peared March 1776, in the " Gos- 
pel Magazine, " which he edited. 
It was entitled, " A Living 
and Dying Prayer for the Holi- 
est Believer in the World. " 

When a lad of 16 years of age 
while on a visit to Ireland with 
his widowed mother, he strolled 
into a barn where an earnest un- 
educated layman was preaching 
on the text " ye who sometimes were afar off, are made 
nigh by the blood of Christ. " 

Says Mr. Toplady, " Under the ministry of Mr. Mor- 
ris, that dear messenger of God, and under that sermon, I 
wa'S, I trust, i brought nigh by the blood of Christ/ in 
August 1756. 

Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means 
of grace in England, should be brought nigh unto God 
in an obscure part of Ireland, amidst a handful of God's 
people, met together in a barn, and under the ministry 
of one, who could hardly spell his name." 

The influence of that barn discourse has already been 
felt for a century, and is now echoing in all parts of the 
world, for through it was converted the lad who gave to 
the Church " Rock of ages. " It has been translated and 
is now sung in almost every known tongue. 

In 1768 he entered into his pastoral work at Broad 
Henbury, England. As a preacher he is thus described, 
" His voice was music. His vivacity would have caught 
the listeners eye ; and his soul-filled looks and movements 
would have interpreted his language, had there not been 




r 




AUGUSTUS TOPLADY. 

A FAC SIMILE OF THE LIKENESS IN THE MAGAZINE 
FOR WHICH HE WROTE "ROCK OF AGES.'' 



Toplady continued. 



383 



C 



such commanding solemnity in his tones, as made apathy- 
impossible, and such simplicity in his words that to hear 
was to understand. 

From easy explanations, he advanced to rapid and con- 
clusive arguments, and warmed into importune exhor- 
ations, till conscience began to burn, and feelings to take 
fire from his own kindled spirit, and himself and his 
hearers were together drowned in sympathetic tears. " 

He seemed to live in the clear sunshine of the Saviour's 
countenance. He frequently called himself " the happiest 
man in the world. " 

His death couch seemed to be flooded with the sun- 
beams of the glory-land. Said he with sparkling eye, i ' I 
cannot tell the comforts I feel in my soul : they are past 
expression. The consolations of God are so abundant, 
that he leaves me nothing to pray for ; my prayers are all 
converted into praise. I enjoy a heaven already in my 
soul." 

As he drew near his departure from earth finding his 
pulse getting w r eaker and weaker he said " why that is a 
good sign that my death is fast approaching ; and blessed 
be God, I can add, that my heart beats every day, strong- 
er and stronger for glory. " Just before his death, burst- 
ing into tears of joy he exclaimed, " It will not be long 
before God takes me ; for no mortal can live after the 
glories which God has manifested to my soul. " 

Thus he passed away in the thirty-eighth year of his 
age, realizing the import of his words, 




" When I rise to worlds unknown, 
And behold thee on thy throne, 
Rock of ages, cleft for me ! 
Let me hide myself in thee." 



384 Toplady's hymn. 




Alterations in* " Rock of Ages. " 

tT is unfortunate that a hymn so often used, should 
appear in so many various forms. The different ver- 
sions we give herewith are taken from " Hymns and 
Choirs. " 

We will give first the lines of the original of Toplady, 
and then the different alterations made. 

Rock of ages, cleft for me, 

Altered thus: 

Rock of ages, shelter me. 

From thy riven side which flowed 

Altered thus: 

From thy wounded side which flowed. 

From thy side a healing flood. 

Be of sin the double cure, 

Cleanse me from its guilt and power, 

Altered thus : 

Be of sin and fear the cure, 

Save from wrath and make me pure. 

Be of sin the perfect cure, 

Save me, Lord, and make me pure. 

Clease from guilt and grace ensure, 

Could my zeal no respite know, 
Could my tears forever flow, 
All for sin could not atone, 

Altered thus : 

Should my zeal no languor know 
Should my tears forever flow, 
This for sin could not atone. 

May my zeal no respite know; 
May my heart with love o'erflow. 
But can this for sin atone ? 




Toplady's hymn. 



385 



*0 



This for sin could ne'er atone. 
This for sin could not atone. 

Nothing in my hand I bring, 

Altered thus : 

In my hand no price I bring. 

Foul, I to thy fountain fly, 

Altered thus : 

Vile I to the fountain fly. 

When my eye-strings break in death, 

Altered thus : 

"When my heart-strings break in death. 
When my eyelids sink in death. 
When my eyelids close in death. 

When I soar to 'worlds unknown, 
See thee on thy judgment throne, 

Altered thus : 

When I soar though tracks unknown. 
When I rise to worlds unknown, 
And behold thee on thy throne. 




G. 



fOPLADY himself altered the hymns of others with- 
out always adding to their improvement. 

The second verse of the hymn of Dr. Watts, — 

11 When I survey the wondrous cross, " 

was originally written thus: — 

" Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, . 
Save in the death of Christ, my God ; 
All the vain things that charm me most 
I sacrifice them to His blood. " 

Toplady changed it to read thus : — 

" Forbid, Lord, that I should boast 
Save in the death of Christ my God : 
I have, and wish to have, no trust 
But in his righteousness and blood. " 



386 



Toplady's hymn illustrated. 



A Babe Hid in the Cleft of a Rock. 



C 



HIGHLAND mother was suddenly overtaken by a 
storm in the mountains of Switzerland. 

" After attempting in vain for some time," says 
Dr.-Macduff, "with her infant in her arms, to buffet the 
whirling eddies, she laid the child down among heather 
and ferns, in the* deep cleft of a rock, with the brave 
resolve, if possible, to make her own way home through 
the driving sleet, and obtain succor for her little one. 
She was found by the anxious neighbors next morning 
stretched cold and stiff on a snowy shroud. But the 
cries of the babe directed them to the rock-crevice, where 
it lay, all unconscious of its danger, and from which it 
was rescued in safety. 

" Many long years afterwards that child returned from 
distant lands a disabled soldier, covered with honorable 
wounds. The first Sabbath of his home-coming, on re- 
pairing to a city church, where he had the opportunity 
of worshipping God l after the manner' and in the cher- 
ished language of his forefathers, be listened to an aged 
clergyman unfolding, in Celtic accents, the story of re- 
deeming love. Strange to say, that clergyman happened 
to be from the same Highland glen wheie he himself had 
spent his youth. Stranger still, he was illustrating the 
divine tale with the anecdote, to him so familiar, of the 
widow and the saved child. 

"A few days afterwards, that pastor was called to visit 
the death-bed of the old soldier. ( I am the son of the 
widow/ were the words which greeted the former as he 
stood by the couch of the dying man. 'Lay my bones 
besides hers in the churchyard among the hills. The 
prayers she offered for me have been answered. I have 
found deliverance in old age where I found it in child- 
hood, in the cleft of the rock ; but it is the Rock of Ages V " 



W 



Toplady's hymn illustrated. 



387 



"•T" 



A Man Saved by a Cleft in a Rock. 



fXE morning a village, along that part of the Pacific 
that forms one of the new boundaries of New South 
Wales, was thrown into consternation by tidings that 
fragments of a wreck were floating about the harbor, some 
with the name "Dunbar" upon them. A passenger- 
vessel of that name was due. Steamers were at once 
despatched to the Heads, and it soon became evident that 
an awful shipwreck had occurred, and that probably every 
one on board had perished. The excitement in the city 
was intense; only they who have been witnesses of a like 
calamity can understand what a thrill of anguish was 
sent through the nerves of a small community like that, 
by the loss of fifty well-known individuals. The day 
was spent in securing the cargo and collecting the mu- 
tilated remains of those who had been so suddenly snatched 
away, which lay scattered among the rocks in every di- 
rection. Not one, apparently, survived to tell the history 
of the disaster. 

On the day following it was noised abroad that a 
voice had been heard in the rocks, and measures were at 
once taken to give them a thorough examination. From 
the vessels and boats near the spot, the rocks were scanned 
with eager eyes; men were let down by ropes, and one 
poor fellow was at last found, almost lifeless, half-way 
between the surface and the water, in a cleft of rock. 

From his evidence at the inquest, it appeared that the 
vessel, unable to make the harbor, had drifted helplessly 
upon the rocks. The sea closed upon the ship and pas- 
sengers, and in less than five minutes all was over. He 
had been lifted by a wave into his place of security. 
The cleft of that rock illustrates the sentiments of 

11 Rock of ages, cleft for me, 

Let me hide myself in Thee. " 




c 



I 



388 



Toplady's hymn illustrated. 



c 



Singing of " Rock Of Ages. " 



" Dr. Pomeroy entered a church at Constantinople, 
where a company of Armenians were singing a hymn 
which caused the tears to stream from the eyes. 

He inquired what they were singing ! A man present 
translated the words and lo ! they were the dear old 
lines of Rock of ages. " 

When Prince Albert, the husband of the Queen of 
England, was leaving this world his dying breath was 
heard whispering the sweet words of 

"Rock of ages cleft forme." 

"Thus " says Dr.Cuyler " it came to pass that the dy- 
ing prince laid hold of those precious thoughts which 
had their root in the rude discourse of an obscure Christ- 
ian layman in an Irish barn. " 

On how many hearts have the undying lines been im- 
pressed that have been chiseled in marble on a monu- 
ment in Greenwood Cemetery. They are found under 
a statue representing faith kneeling before the cross. 

" Nothing in my hands I bring 
Simply to thy cross I cling. " 

The Rev. Stephen H. Tyng D. D. says, that when 
his son the Rev. Dudley Tyng. was approaching the 
Jordan of death just after he had spoken those ever 
memorable words " Stand up for Jesus — " he aroused 
from the sleep of death, and said to those in tears by his 
bed side, " Sing, Can you not sing ?" " We hesitated. 
It was impossible. When he himself began to sing 

" Rock of ages cleft for me. " 

And we sang together two verses of that hymn, he 
and his wife louder than any of us. He could sing no 
more — no more could we." 



& 



Toplady's hymn illustrated. 



389 



C 



"Rock of Ages." 

W., in the American Messenger, furnishes the fol- 
lowing : — 

" 'T was a sultry day in June. The scorching 
beams of the noonday sun came slanting through the 
broad uncurtained windows, falling directly on the ope- 
rators and sewing-girls ranged along the room, making 
their heads throb and ache almost to bursting. Wearily 
the machines turned, and the tired eyes of the girls glanced 
now and then at the clock noting the moments as they 
dragged heavily by. 

" The calls on the ice-cooler had been frequent that 
morning, and now at one o'clock the water was spent. 
One after another had gone to it, expecting to get a cool- 
ing drink, but had turned away disappointed. The 
merry song was hushed, the laughing jests were dropped, 
and tired hands toiled on, longing for the close of the 
day, that they might find rest and water. 

"Suddenly in the deep hush, came the sweet, low voice 
of an operator, singing, 

" ' Rock of ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee. 

One after another joined in, forgetting their burning 
thirst, until the whole fifty girls were singing. Grandly 
the closing stanza rang out, 

" ' While I draw this fleeting breath, 
When my heartstrings break in death, 
When I soar to worlds unknown, 
See thee on thy judgment-throne, 
Rock of ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee. ' 

No more sadness, no more weary looks or anxious glances 
towards the clock. Hymn after hymn was sung, and 
almost too soon came the six o'clock bell. " 




If 



390 



Toplady's hymn. 



r 




Rock of Ages" Floating over a Field of Death. 

MINISTER in Wales gave a 
friend the following account of 
his conversion after the battle 
of Alma, during the Crimean 
war, in which he was engaged 
as a soldier. 

"I had," said he, "gone down 
a hill to get some water. In 
consequence of the number of 
my fellow-men lying dead on 
the field, the water there was 
not fit to drink, so I had to go a long way to get some. 

" After getting all I required I retraced my steps to 
the camp. As I stepped over the bodies now stiff and 
cold in death, my thoughts wandered to those families 
in England, who were deprived of a father, husband or 
brother, when all at once the sound of singing floated in 
the air. I drew near to the place and found a company 
of soldiers singing in the Welsh language. In the midst 
of them was a soldier whose sands of life were nearly 
gone, and he had requested his comrades to sing : — 

u ' Rock of ages, cleft for me.' 
" When they sang the last verse, 

" 'While I draw this fleeting breath, 
When my eyelids close in death,' 

he lifted his eyes to heaven and faintly exclaimed, "Sing 
it again." They did so. But before they had finished 
it, his soul left the tenement of clay for the home above. 
" The solemn scene had such an effect on me that I 
began to seek the way of salvation, and am now what 
you see me, a minister of the gospel. " 



Toplady's hymn illustrated. 



391 



G 



"Rock of Ages" Drowning Rowdy Songs. 

T the commencement of a two weeks' course of " Il- 
lustrated Sermons" in the Calvary Church, Cleve- 
land, Ohio, January, 1870, we were much impressed 
by the prayer of a ministerial brother, who begged for two 
hundred souls, as the fruit of that special effort. We 
soon found in it an exemplification of the promise, "Open 
thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." 

At the close of each sermon, a service was held for the 
special benefit of those who were penitent. Soon the 
number became so great, that sixteen of the front pews 
were reserved for such, and so great was the anxiety to 
press forward to occupy those seats, that men had to be 
stationed in each aisle, to prevent the rush from occa- 
sioning any accident. Never shall we forget the sound 
of that church echo, when about a hundred persons would 
rise simultaneously to their feet, and hasten to secure a 
place among those who were clustering around the cross. 

The subject one evening being "The Prodigal Son," 
the illustrations served to draw in from the streets a 
wanderer, who, unable to secure one of the front seats, 
at the close of the sermon dropped down upon bended 
knees in the aisle. An evening or two later, as he arose to 
testify how he had been plucked as a brand from the 
burning, he remarked that he found great difficulty in 
drowning the echo of the rowdy songs he had been ac- 
customed to sing. " But, " says he, " I have succeeded 
by singing, ' Rock of ages, ' and to-day I have been kept 
busy in singing ' Rock of ages, ' from morning till night. " 

By the close of the two weeks, the pastor received the 
names of two hundred and eight souls, who were induced 
to seek salvation. The brother's prayer thus was more than 
answered, and we had a fresh illustration of the text, 
" According to your faith be it unto you. " 



W 



§* 



392 



Toplady's hymn illustrated. 



Clinging Close to the Rock. 



|ASSJ"1S"G over the Alleghany Mountains was a long 
train of cars on its way eastward. It was crowded 
with passengers. As the iron horse snorted and 
rushed on, they began to feel that it had begun to descend, 
and needed no power but the invisible power of gravita- 
tion to ssnd them down with terrific swiftness. Just as 
the passengers began to realize their situation they came 
to a short curve cut out of the solid rock — a wall of rock 
lying on each side. Suddenly the steam whistle scream- 
ed as if in agony, " Put on the brakes ! put on the brakes ! " 

Up pressed the brakes, but with no apparent slacking 
of the cars. Every window flew open, and every head 
that could be was thrust out to see what the danger was, 
and every one rose up in his place, fearing sudden de- 
struction. What was the trouble ? 

Just as the engine began to turn in the curve the 
engineer saw a little girl and her baby brother playing 
on the track. In a moment the cars would be on them ; 
the shriek of the whistle startled the little girl, and every 
one looking over could see them. Close to the rail, in 
the upright rock, was a little niche, out of which a piece 
of rock had been blasted. In an instant the baby was 
thrust into this niche, and as the cars came thundering 
by, the passengers, holding their breath, heard the clear 
voice of the little sister on the other side of the cars, ring 
out, " Cling close to the rock, Johnny ! cling close to the 
rock ! " And the little creature snuggled in, and put 
his head as close to the corner of the rock as possible, 
while the heavy cars whirred past him. 

And many were the moist eyes that gazed, a silent 
thanksgiving went up to him who is the 

" Rock of ages cleft for me. " 



c 



Toplady's hymn illustrated. 



393 



r 

^53 



"That Is My Hope.'' 




twas at the death-bed, not long ago, of a man who for 
many years had been living a life of profligacy. 
For years his friends knew nothing of him, but at last 
the hand of disease was laid upon him, and then he 
sought for home. His friends received him, attended 
him with all kindness, and as he lay in that sick-bed 
Jesus came knocking again at the door of his heart, and 
he was received in. A few days before his death, I ask- 
ed on what his hope was resting. He stretched forth 
his hand for a hymn book, and with his long, pale, wast- 
ed fingers, turned over its leaves, and then handing it to 
me, pointing to one of the hymns, he said, " that is my 
hope " — " Bock of ages, cleft for me. " 

The Clefts in the Rock. 



N unbeliever was shown the clefts in the rock of 
Mount Calvary. Examining them critically, he turn- 
ed in amazement to his fellow travellers and said, "I 
have long been a student of nature, and I am sure the 
clefts and rents in this rock were never done by nature, 
or an ordinary earthquake; for by such a concussion, the 
rock must have split according to the veins and where it 
was weakest in the adhesion of parts: for this, I have 
observed to have been done in other rocks when separat- 
ed or broken after an earthquake, and reason tells me 
it must always be so. 

But it is quite otherwise here; for the rock is rent a- 
thwart and across the veins, in a most strange and preter- 
natural manner ; and therefore, " said he, " I thank God 
that I came hither to see the standing monument of mirac- 
ulous power by which God gives evidence to this day of 
the Divinity of Christ. " 



394 



Toplady's hymn illustrated. 



G 



" Thou must save, and Thou alone. 



HE following extracts, taken from children's letters, 
, will illustrate this line in " Rock of Ages, " and also 
^ how much a sinner needs a Saviour's help. 

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Xv\«aa axU wM Ai/uuoemJ. tvcm Xj aajoaaJ M/Va/vv IcAJ mi*! 



"■ 51 3 iaru lw XW) (wxxiXivuiyvqq © huaaa) auJ ciaaxa). AX5=x3LaftA.__ 
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AAioA(i__. c3 Iaoaw) X\XcxA k.ia. xiXXcm) Xa Ai< xxocjd) Aiaaa xx)l\««a\i, 1<xaX«xxJ . 



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xiAAxvwi.) : I&xiaL-, Lom^ Xx^mUX) iyym)^ /aJvu}__ jyyvav) Aiaxx) Jh«>a\^ — .. 

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Uum 5 /Q«W aiakj) xxamw : <md <9 xrxAMmoX Auavy) aL-,. 
YV.ulj /uoaO VvAafu loV) /m« ?^ 



2/ 



A new version of " Rock of Ages" 



395 



Rock of Ages, by Rev. Dr. Ray Palmer. 

From " Evenings with the Sacred Poets. " 



Rock of Ages! since on Thee 
By grace my feet are planted, 
'Tis mine in tranquil faith, to see 

The rising s.orm, undaunted; 
When angry billows round me rave, 

And tempests fierce assail me, 
To thee I cling, the terrors brave, 
For Thou canst never fail me; 
Though rends the globe with earthquake shock, 
Unmoved Thou stand'st, Eternal Rock ! 

Within Thy clefts T love to hide, 
When darkness o'er me closes; 
There p ace and light serene abile, 

Aid my still heart reposes ; 
My soul exults to dwell secure 

Thy strong munitions round her; 
She dares to count her triumph sure, 
Nor fears lest hell confound her ; 
Though tumults startle earth and sea, 
Thou changeless Rock, they shake not Thee ! 

From Thee, rock once smittan ! flow 

Life-giving streams for ever; 
And whoso doth their sweetness know, 

He henceforth thirsteth never; 
My lips have touched the crystal tide, 

And feel no more returning 
The fever, that so long I tried 

To cool, yet felt still burning ; 
Ah, wondrous Well-Spring ! brimming o'er 
With living waters evermore. 

On that dread day when they that sleep 

Shall hear the trumpet sounding, 
And wnke to praise, or wake to weep, 

The judgme it-throne surrounding ; 
When wrapt in all-devouring flame, 

The solid globe is wasting, 
And what at first from nothing came 

Is back to nothing hasting; 
E'en then, my soul shall calmly rest, 
Rock of Ages ! on Thy breast. 



r 



396 Early life of Watts. 



Rev. Isaac Watts D. D. 

§ATTS, the author of many of the hymns contained 
in the Church hymn books of our day, was born 
in Southampton, England, on the 17th of July, 
1674. 

His father kept a flourishing boarding-school in that 
town, which was held in such high repute that students 
were sent to it from America and the West Indies. He 
was an earnest Christian, a deacon of the Independent 
or Congregational church. Soon after the birth of Isaac, 
their first born child, the father was imprisoned in the 
South-Castle Jail, because of his non-conformity. 

The mother, in her affliction, is said to have often 
seated herself on a stone near the prison door, with the 
poet, then an infant " suckling at her breast," and at 
times, to have "lifted him up to the cell window to com- 
fort the father in bonds." 

His precocious intellect soon began to show itself. Be- 
fore he could speak plainly, when money was given him 
he would say, "A book! a book! buy a book" 

In his fourth year he began the study of Latin ; in his 
ninth, the study of Greek ; in his tenth, the study of 
French ; and in his thirteenth, the study of Hebrew. 

During the play-hours in his father's school, his mo- 
ther promised a copper-medal to those of the pupils who 
would construct the best verses, when little Isaac, but 
some seven years of age produced the«couplet: — 

" I write not for your farthing, but to try 
How I your farthing-writers can outvie. " 

His piety was very early manifested. Well could he 
adopt the beautiful language of Mrs. Rowe : — " My in- 
fant hands were early lifted up to Thee, and I soon 
learned to know and acknowledge the God of my fath- 
ers." 




ABNEY HOCSE WHERE WATTS LIVED AND DIED. 



The home of Watts. 



m 



In 1698, on his birthday, when just twenty-four years 
of age, he preached his first sermon, and in the same 
year was chosen assistant pastor of the Independent 
Church, Mark Lane, London, and in 1702, became its 
sole pastor. 

On account of his feeble health his people provided 
him with aiv assistant, the Rev. Samuel Price. Though 
an invalid, Dr. Watts served his church for nearly fifty 
years. Often his exertions in the pulpit were followed 
by such weakness and pain that he was obliged to re- 
tire immediately to bed and have his room closed in 
darkness and silence. 

Invited by Sir Thomas Abney in 1712 to visit his 
mansion at Theobalds, for a change of air, he gladly 
complied. It became his home for the rest of his life. 

A lady calling to see him one day, Dr. Watts said: 
"Madam, your ladyship is come to see me on a very 
remarkable day. This very day, thirty years ago, I came 
to the house of my good friend, Sir Thomas Abney, in- 
tending to spend but one single week under his friendly 
roof, and I have extended my visit to his family to the 
length of exactly thirty years. " 

Lady Abney, who was present, immediately replied, 
" Sir, what you term a long thirty years' visit, I consid- 
er the shortest my family has ever received. " 

Soon after he had a dangerous illness, from which, 
after a long confinement, he but slowly recovered. 

Dr. Gibbons says: "Here he dwelt in a family, which, 
for piety, order, harmony, and every virtue, was a house 
of God. Here he had the privilege of a country recess, 
the fragrant bower, the spreading lawn, the flowery gar- 
den, and other advantages to soothe his mind, and aid his 
restoration to health ; to yield him, whenever he chose 
them, most grateful intervals from his laborious studies, 



£ 



and to return to them with redoubled vigor and delight." 



1/ 



400 



Isaac Watts. 



His physical frame is thus described by his biographer: 
"He measured only about five feet in height, and was 
of a slender form. His complexion was pale and fair, 
his eyes small and gray, but when animated, became 
piercing and expressive; his forehead was low, his cheek 
bones rather prominent; but his countenance was, on the 
whole, by no means disagreeable. His voice was pleas- 
ant, but weak. A stranger would, probably, have been 
most attracted by his piercing eye, whose very glance 
was able to command attention and aw r e. " 

Being at a hotel with some friends, some one made 
the remark, rather contemptuously, — "What! is that 
the great Dr. Watts ?" As this was unexpectedly over- 
heard by Dr. Watts, he at once replied, as he turned 
towards the critic, and said : — 

" Were I so tall to reach the pole, 
Or grasp the ocean with my span, 
I must be measured by my soul, 

The mind's the standard of the man." 

The apt reply is said to have produced silent admiration 
for the "great" little man. 

Dr Gibbons speaks thus of his mental greatness: — 
" Perhaps very few of the descendents of Adam have 
made nearer approaches to angels in intellectual powers 
and divine dispositions than Dr. Watts; and among the 
numerous stars which have adorned the hemisphere of 
the Christian Church he has shone and will shine an 
orb of the first magnitude. " 

Dr. Johnson, the eminent lexicographer, gives the 
following estimate of his capacity: — "Few men," says 
he, "have left behind such purity of character, or such 
monuments of laborious piety. He has provided in- 
struction for all ages, — from those who are lisping their 
first lessons to the enlightened readers of Malebranche 
and Locke." 



$» 



r 



1 




CD WAinrSc tfiXEDX 



Death of Watts, 



403 




C 



" Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood, 
Should fright us from the shore. " 



fliHIS language was typical of the experience of its 
C|p author. It is said of Watts, "Calmly and peacefully 
did his weary, longing spirit leave its feeble earthly 
tenement and wing its way to God. " 

Often would he say ; " 1 bless God I can lie down with 
comfort at night, not being solicitous whether I wake 
in this world or another. " Before his departure, he said : 

"It is good to say as Mr. Baxter, 'What, when, and 
where God pleases. ' If God should raise me up again 
I may finish some more of my papers, or God can 
make use of me to save a soul, and that will be worth 

living for It is a great mercy to me 

that I have no manner of fear or dread of death: I could 
if God please, lay my head back and die without 
terror, this afternoon or night. " 

Being " worn out by infirmities and labor, " rather than 
by any particular disease, he simply ceased to breathe on 
the 25th of November, 1748, in the 75th year of his age. 

In accordance with his catholic spirit, and his ex- 
pressed wish, his body was conveyed to its resting-place 
by pall-bearers that consisted of two ministers from each 
of the three denominations. 

The following description of his monument is given 
in the Sabbath at Home. 



MONUMENT in honor of Dr. Watts was erected 
some years ago in the town of his birth. It was 
the product of public subscription. On the inaugu- 
ration-day, an address was delivered by the Earl of 
Shaftesbury; and the memorial was afterward formally 
delivered over to the mayor and corporation of Southamp- 
ton. The monument, sculptured by Mr. R. T. Lucas, 



404 



Monument of Watts. 



stands in the Western Park. It has an entire height of 
nineteen feet, with a base eight and a half feet square. 
The statue represents the minister of religion addressing 
his congregation, and is of the purest white Sicilian mar- 
ble, about eight feet high, facing the south. It surmounts 
a pedestal of fine polished gray Aberdeen granite, which 
has three marble basso-rilievos on the sides. One on the 
front represents the teacher instructing a beautiful group 
of children, unjler which is the motto, — 

i: He gave to lisping infancy its earliest and purest lessons." 

The youthful poet is sculptured on the west side, with 
upturned glance; and underneath is his own descriptive 
line: — 

"To heaven I lift my waiting eyes." 
On the east side, Dr. Watts is depicted as a philosopher 
with globe, telescope, hour-glass, and Dr. Johnson's 
delineation of him : — 

"He taught the art of reasoning and the science of the stars." 

On the north side is a marble tablet, with an inscription 
written by John Bullar, Esq: — 

A. D. 1861. 

Erected by Voluntary Subscriptions, 

In memory of Isaac Watts, D. D., 

A native of Southampton. 

Bornl674; died 1748. 

An example of the talents of a large and liberal mind, "wholly 
devoted to the promotion of piety, virtue, and literature. 

A name honored for his sacred hymns wherever the English 
language extends. 

Especially the friend of children and of youth, for whose best 
welfare he labored well and wisely, without thought of fame or 
gain. 

"From all that dwell below the skies 
Let the Creator's praise arise ; 
Let the Redeemer's name be sung, 
Through every land by every tongue." 
* Watts. 



e 



£ 




MONUMENT Ql' WATTS. 



Isaac Watts. 



407 




C 




How Vain are All Things here Below. ' 

EV. DR. WATTS is the au- 
thor of this expressive hymn. 
Dr. Belcher narrates the fol- 
lowing interesting facts as to 
its origin : — 

It is well known that the 
worthy doctor lived and died 
a bachelor. The cause of this 
seems to have been that in early 
life he met with a severe dis- 
appointment. 

Attracted by the personal, the intellectual, and spirit- 
ual lovliness of Miss Elizabeth Singer, afterward the 
well-known Mrs. Rowe, Isaac Watts tendered to her his 
heart and his hand, and was unhappily repulsed, — the 
lady telling him that, though she loved the jewel, she 
could not admire the casket which contained it. Thus 
was poor Watts treated, as were others, by this excellent 
but surely somewhat capricious lady, whom Mrs. Bar- 
bauld in some degree taunted when she said to her, in 
the language of high conpliment, — 

" Thynne, Carteret, Blackmore, Orrery approved, 
And Prior praised, and noble Hertford loved : 
Seraphic Ken and tuneful Watts were thine, 
And Virtue's noblest champions filled the line. " 

Though disappointed and grieved, the pious poet submit- 
ted to what he considered an arrangement of Divine 
Providence, and then wrote the hymn to which we have 
referred the beauty of which both the Christian and the 
poet will admire. Happy the man who could at such a 
time pray, 

"Dear Saviour, let thy beauties be 
My soul's eternal food." 



408 



Watte' hymn. 




Origin of Watts' First Hymn. 

tT can be easily imagined how verses, like those given 
on another page ( 507 ) must have grated on the sen- 
sitive ears of Watts. It was to him like the sound 
of the file in sharpening the saw. 

When giving vent to his wounded feelings, the answer 
was, "Give us something better, young man." 

He complied with the request, and the church was 
invited to close its service in the evening with the fol- 
lowing new hymn : — 

" Behold the glories of the Lamb 
Amidst His Father's throne ; 
Prepare new honors for His name, 
And songs before unknown. " 

The hymn consisted of eight verses, and was the first 
of that long list which has wreathed his name with im- 
mortal glory. 




Origin of "There is a land of pure delight." 

ATTS, it is said, wrote this hymn in his native 
town, Southampton, u while sitting at the window 
of a parlor, which overlooked the river Itchen, and 
in full view of the Isle of Wight. It is indeed a beautiful 
type of that paradise of which the poet sung. It rises 
from the margin of the flood and swells into boundless 
prospect, all mantled in the richest verdure of summer, 
checkered with forest-growth and fruitful fields under 
the highest cultivation, and gardens, and villas, and 
every adornment which the hand of man, in a series of 
ages, could create on such susceptible grounds. As the 
poet looked upon the waters then before him, he thought 
of the final passage of the Christian : — 

"Death, like a narrow sea, divides 
This heavenly land from ours. " 



c; 



gge/ 



Watts' hymn. 409 



" Give me the wings of faith to rise 
Within the vail, and see 
The saints above, how great their joys, 
How bright their glories be. " 

(ODDRIDGE wrote in a letter to Watts an account 
of the effect produced by the singing of this, his 
hymn, soon after it was composed. 

Says he: "I was preaching to a large assembly of 
plain country people at a village, when, after a sermon 
from Heb. vi. 12, we sung one of your hymns, * * * * 
and in that part of the worship, I had the satisfaction to 
observe tears in the eyes of several of the people. After 
the service was over, some of them told me that they 
were not able to sing, so deeply were their minds affected; 
and the clerk in particular said he could hardly utter the 
words as he gave them out. " This hymn is said to be 
"one of the finest in the collection." 

Toplady, the author of Rock of ages, longed for these — 

-wings of faith, to rise 



Within the vail- 



Said he, "O how this soul of mine longs to be gone: 
like an imprisoned bird, it longs to take its flight. O 
that I had the wings of a dove, I should flee away to the 
realms of bliss, and be at rest for ever. I long to be 
absent from the body and present with the Lord.' 7 At 
another time he said, "O what a day of sunshine has 
this been to me. I have no words to express it; it is 
unutterable. O, my friends, how good our God is. 
Almost without interruption his presence has been with 
me." Being near his end, having awakened out of sleep, 
he said: "O what delights: who can fathom the joys of 
the third heavens!" And just before he expired, he said: 
"The sky is clear; there is no cloud: Lord Jesus, come 
quickly. " 




c 



-±s 



410 



Watts' hymn. 



C 



A Heart Broken by a Hymn- 

R. Belcher gives the following narrative as furnished 
by Rev. J. Parker. 
I was seated at the table of a boarding house, kept 

by Mrs. F. , at which were some fifteen guests. One 

of these was a gentleman full of animation, and whose 
vivacity created the impression, that whoever else might 
be affected by the solemnities of the time, he was not. 

On a Sunday morning, Rev. Dr. Perrine preached an 
effective sermon on the consequences of a life of sin. Full 
of unction and tenderness, its vivid pictures of hell's tor- 
ments produced a most solemn effect. 

As we were sitting at the dinner table, and remarks 
were passing freely in regard to the morning service, the 
young man above mentioned expressed in strong terms 
his disapprobation of the sermon, and added, "Such 
preaching only hardens me and makes me worse. " I re- 
plied, " It is possible that you think it makes you worse, 
w r hen it only makes you conscious of sin that was before 
slumbering in your heart. " " No, " said he, " it hardens 
me. I am at this moment less susceptible to anv thing 
like conviction for hearing that discourse. I feel more in- 
clined to resist every thing like good impressions than 
usual. " a Yet, " I rejoined, "good impressions arc those 
which are best adapted to secure the desired end ; and I 
am greatly mistaken if an increase of the effect which 
you feel would not be greatly useful to you. If, for in- 
stance, you should read now the Fifty-First Psalm,- 

" Show pity, Lord; Lord, forgive," 

it would take a deep hold on your heart. " 

" Not the least, " said he, " I could read it without 
moving a muscle. I wish I had the book, I would read 
it to you. " / 



Watts' hymn. 



411 



C 



" We have one, " said Mrs. F- 



-, who was fully 
aware of the excitement under which he was laboring; and 
the book was handed him, opened at the place. He com- 
menced to read, with compressed lips and firm voice : 

"Show pity, Lord; Lord, forgive ; 
Let a repenting sinner live : 
Are not thy mercies large and free? 
May not a sinner trust in Thee? " 

Toward the last part of this stanza a little tremulous- 

ness of voice was plainly discernible. He rallied again, 

however, and commenced the second verse with more 

firmness : 

" Oh, wash my soul from every sin, 

And n ake my guilty conscience clean : 
Here on my heart the burden lies, 
And past offences pain mine eyes. " 

At the last part of this stanza his voice faltered more 
manifestly. He commenced upon the third verse with great 
energy, and read in a loud, sonorous voice, the whole 
company looking on in breathless silence: 

" My lips with shame my sins confess, " 

As he read the second line, 

" Against thy law, against thy grace, " 

his lips quivered, and his utterance became difficult. He 
paused a little, and entered upon the third line with an 
apparently new determination: 

"Lord, should thy judgment'grow severe. " 

Yet before he came to the end his voice was almost to- 
tally choked ; and when he began upon the fourth line, 

u I am condemned, but thou art clear, " 

an aspect of utter discouragement marked his countenance, 
and he could only bring out, in broken sobs, " I am con- 
demned, " when his utterance changed to a heart-brok- 
en cry of grief, and he rising at the same time rushed 
from the room, as a deeply convicted sinner. 




W 



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Wath? hymn. 




C 



Hymns upon the Battle-Field. 

j|T is related of a Christian officer at the battle of Shiloh, 
^p> that he lay all night on the field, wounded in both 
thighs. Said he, "The stars shone out clear over 
the dark battle-field, and I began to think about that 
God who had given His Son to die for me, and that He 
was up above those glorious stars. I felt that I ought 
to praise Him, even while wounded and on that battle- 
ground. I could not help singing that beautiful hymn : — 

" ' When I can read my title clear, 
To mansions in the skies, 
I'll bid farewell to every fear, 
And wipe my weeping eyes. ' 

"There was a Christian brother in the brush near me. 
I could not see him ; but I could hear him. . He took up 
the strain. Another beyond him heard it., and joined in 
and still others too. We made the field of battle ring 
with the hymn of praise to God." To which one adds: 

" What an exquisite touch that is in ancient Job, where 
a 'widow's heart is made to sing for joy. ' So Paul and 
Silas felt such inward gratitude and joy that even at mid- 
night, in their noxious and filthy dungeon, they pealed 
out God's praises. When a soul is filled with the love 
of Jesus, the voice of praise is irrepressible." 

JjEV. MR. SPURGEON says: " At the battle of Dun- 

Gg> bar, when Cromwell and his men fought up hill, and 

step by step achieved the victory, their watchword 

was the Lord of hosts, and they marched to the battle 

singing : — 

" ' Lord, my Ood, arise, and let 
Mine enemies scattered be ; 
And let all them that do thee hate, 
Before thy presence flee. ' 

" When they had won the day, the grand old leader, 



& 



Watte* hymn. 



413 



saint and soldier in one, bade his men halt and sing with 
him; and there they poured forth a psalm with such lusty 
music, that the old German ocean might well have clapped 
its hands in chorus, 'Sing unto the Lord, for he hath 
triumphed gloriously. ' 

" But what a song will that be when we, the followers 
of Christ against sin, shall at last see death and hell over- 
and with our Leader standing in our midst, shall 




come, 



raise the last great hallelujah to God and the Lamb, 
which hallelujah shall roll on forever and ever." 

FTER the battle of Agincourt was won, the king 
wanted to acknowledge the divine interposition. Or- 
dering the chaplain to read a psalm, when he came 
to the words, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but 
unto Thy name give the glory, " the king and the cavalry 
dismounted, and all the host, officers and men, prostrated 
themselves upon the ground. 

Hymns Making a Bloody Impression. 

MON"G the records of the revolution an incident is 
given of a party of British soldiers. Having fired 
into the parsonage of a Presbyterian minister, named 
Caldwell, in Connecticut, and shot his wife who was at 
prayers with her infant, the exasperated minister turned 
out and fought in the ranks of his townsmen. 

The ammunition of the patriots, in the article of wad- 
ding, failing them at a critical moment, the minister 
rushed into the chapel, and soon reappeared bearing in 
his arms a pile of hymn books, which he scattered along 
the line of combatants, exclaiming: "Now my lads, put 
Watts (wads) into them." 

The historian intimates that it is easy to guess, after 
this which party was victorious. 



c: 



w 



414 



Watts' hymn. 



'N ot all the Blood of Beasts." 



r 




nage. 



RECIOUS and oft-repeated is 
this hymn of Dr. Watts. We 
give herewith some interesting 
statements relating to it. 

A Bible colporteur in Lon- 
don gives the following inter- 
view he had with a dying Jew- 
ess on the day of her death : 

" She had been brought from 
affluence to abject poverty for 
the faith of Christ. She had 
at one time kept her own car- 
One day she cast her eye on the leaf of a hymn- 
book wdiich had come into the house, covering some but- 
ter, and she read upon it these words : — 

1 Not all the blood of beasts 

On Jewish altars slain 
Could give the guilty conscience peacei 
Or wash away the stain.' 

" The verse haunted her. She could not dismiss it nor 
forget it ; and after a time she w T ent to a box where she 
remembered she had a Bible, and, induced by that verse, 
began to read, and read on until she found Christ Jesus, 
'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.' 

"She became openly a convert to Christianity. This 
caused her husband to divorce her. He went to India, 
where he married again and died. She lived in much 
poverty with two of her nation, Jewish sisters, who had 
also become Christians. 

"She died triumphing in Christ as her Rock, quoting 
and applying to him the Psalms of David, passing with- 
out a fear through the dark valley." 



w 



Watts' hymn. 



415 



g^HE Rev. J. D. Reardon, in illustrating the "joys of 
Cg> salvation/' said, that, like Zaccheus, he himself was 
led as a penitent to receive " Christ joyfully.". Heavily 
laden with guilt and fear, and groping for a long while in 
darkness, he was in a moment brought into the light and 
liberty of God's people by the quoting of the third verse 
of this hymn. 

His pastor had been unfolding the way of salvation to 
him and other inquirers, w T hen, to impress the truth of 
the Bible contained in this verse, he reached out his 
hands just as the ancient priest was supposed to do when 
placing the sins of the people upon the scape goat, and 
said, " Sinner, it is just this, only this for you to do, and 
say:— 

" My faith would lay her hand 
On that dear head of Thine, 
While like a penitent I stand, 
And there confess my sin.'' 

My eyes opened at once to see it. I burst out with 
laughter ; I couldn't help it. My heart in a moment 
was filled with joy and has been ever since. 




fOME military officers and other Christian friends in 
Montreal w r ere singing the hymn — 
"Not all the blood of beasts," 

when Captain L remarked to Captain Hammond, 

"I have a curious fancy concerning that hymn: I should 
like it sung by six young men as they lower me into the 
grave." It was but a short time afterward when he died, 
and his body sank to rest in the grave amid the impres- 
sive singing of the hymn, as requested; and soon after 
this his friend Captain Hammond also followed him to 
the eternal world. 



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Watts' hymn. 



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My Faith would Lay her Hand." 

ERY beautiful is the Scripture 
figure that underlies this, the 
third verse of the hvmn : 

" Not all the blood of beasts." 

An English clergyman gives 
the following statement : 

I knew of a little child in 
Kingston, who in her dreams 
seemed to remember what I had 
been preaching about, one morn- 
ing particularly calling to mind these words of the hymn : 

" My faith would lay her hand 
On that dear head of thine." 

You know, when Dr. Watts wrote these words, he 
referred to the Levitical custom of putting the hands on 
the head of the sacrifice, and confessing the sins of the 
people over it : thus laying the burden of their sins upon 
him, that when he went forth he took them far away — 
away to the land of forgetfulness, where they could never 
be found or remembered again. 

This young disciple in her sleep thought, "Oh! how 
I should like to put my hand on his dear bleeding head." 
Then she thought she saw the blessed Saviour nailed to 



the cross, enduring such 
bowed, weighed 



agonv 



His sacred head w r as 
down with the awful load of sin; and 
as she gazed steadfastly, she thought she drew near, and 
by some means found herself putting one hand on that 
bleeding head, and the other under it, to support it and 
bear it up. " And oh !" she felt, " how happy am I to 
do this. Oh ! this is bliss — this is life !" 



W 



Watts' hymn* 



All 



*^tt' 



11 Before Jehovah's awful throne. " 



& 

it; HIS is Watts' version of the hundredth Psalm. The 

v2) first verse, which is now omitted, reads thus: — 

" Sing to the Lord with joyful voice ; 
Let every land His name adore ; 
The British isles shall send the noise 
Across the ocean to the shore. " 

The first two lines of the second verse, — 

" Nations attend before His throne, 

With solemn fear, with sacred joy, " 

were altered and greatly improved by Wesley, and made 
the beginning of the hymn as now in use: — 

" Before Jehovah's awful throne, 

Ye nations, bow with sacred joy, " 

Dr. Dempter, formerly the senior professor in the 
Garrett Biblical Institute, relates a happy effect pro- 
duced while singing this hymn upon the sea. He was 
going to South America, accompanied with his wife and 
two other missionaries and their wives, when to their 
surprise, they found a pirate vessel in fast pursuit of 
them. As the disguised enemy refused to exchange salu- 
tations, and kept drawing nearer, they ascended to the 
deck and engaged in singing to the tune of "Old Hun- 
dred" this grand old hymn: — 

" Before Jehovah's awful throne, 

Ye nations, bow with sacred joy; 
Know that the Lord is God alone ; 
He can create, and He destroy. " 

Dropping on their knees, they prepared to meet what 
seemed to be their doom, in earnest prayer. The echo 
of this hymn and prayer seemed to have had the desired 
effect, for soon after, the pirates were seen to turn away 
and disappear. Truthfully they sung in the hymn : — 
" We are His people, we His care. " 




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418 Watts 9 hymn. 



The Closed Lips. 

daughter had grown up to maturity in a Christian 
family, who was always accustomed to hear a fath- 
er's voice lead in prayer and praise before breakfast. 
Although busily employed in secular engagements, he 
could always find time to worship Him, who was all the 
time caring for, and loving him. 

He could not afford to travel on life's dangerous jour- 
ey without daily renewing his spiritual, as well as his 
physical strength. 

Placing his incense upon the family altar, he would 
blend his voice with the Psalmist in singing, 

" Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear 
My voice asceniing high ; 
To thee will I direct my prayer, 
To thee lift up mine eye. " 

The daughter, being so often prayed for, had become 
so accustomed to the familiar sound, that it seemed like 
a meaningless song. 

During the silence of a midnight hour, a cry was heard 
" Behold the bridegroom cometh. " The father, with his 
w r ell filled and well trimmed lamp, entered the marriage 
feast of the Lamb. 

The usual breakfast hour arrived for those w T ho were 
left behind. The victuals were steaming on the table, 
ready to be eaten. But as the worship always preceded 
the meal, they were afraid to approach the table. There 
lay the old Bible and hymn book waiting for use. After 
a long, sad silence, the young lady stole away to a side 
room, in which lay her father on his cooling board. As 
the morning sun was peeping in, she drew down the 
white linen from his closed lips, and exclaimed with 
uplifted hands and streaming eyes, " God who 9 11 pray 
for us noiv. " 




r 



m 



Watts' hymn. 



419 





A Singular Coincidence. 

OME few years ago, one of the 
Boston papers related a very 
beautiful coincidence. During 
the morning service at Christ's 
Church, Salem Street, an inci- 
dent occurred which would have 
been interpreted by some of the 
ancients as a signal of divine 
approbation. The Rev. Mr. 
Marcus, of Nantucket, the offi- 
ciating minister, read, in order 
to be sung, the Eighty-Fourth 
in which may be found the verse,- 

" The birds, more happier far than I, 
Around thy temple throng ; 
Securely there they build, and there 
Securely hatch their young." 

While he was reading this psalm, a dove flew in at one of 
the windows and alighted on the capital of one of the pil- 
asters near the altar, and almost over the head of the 
reader. A note of the psalm and hymn to be sung had 
been previously given, as is customary, to the choir, or it 
might have been supposed that there was design in the 
selection ; for the second hymn commenced,— 

" Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, 
With all thy quickening powerSj 
Kindle a flame of sacred love 
In thes3 cold hearts of ours ! " 

The preacher was unconscious of the presence of the 
bird until the close of the services, when the innocent vis- 
itor was suffered to depart in peace. 



r 



420 



Watts' hymn illustrated. 




"Alas ! and did my Saviour bleed, 
And did my sovereign die." 



c 




T Nashville cemetery Term., a 
stranger was seen planting a 
flower over a soldier's grave. 

When asked : "Was your son 
buried there?" "No" "A broth- 
er?" "No." "A relative?" "No." 
After a moment's pause the 
^stranger laid down a small board 
[which he had in his hand, and 
said: "Well, I will tell you. 
=^2 When' the war broke out I lived 
in Illinois. I wanted to enlist, but was poor. I had a 
wife and seven children. I was drafted. I had no mon- 
ey to hire a substitute, so made up my mind that I must 
leave my poor, sickly children, and go. 

After I had got all things ready to go, a young man 
whom I knew came to me and said : 'You have a large 
family, which your wife cannot take care of. I will go for 
you.' He did go in my place, and in the battle of Chick- 
amauga was wounded, and taken to Nashville. Here 
he died, ever since I have wished to come to see his grave, 
so I have saved up all the spare money I could, and 
came on, and found my dear friend's grave." 

With tears of gratitude running down his 
cheek, he took up a board and pressed it 
down into the ground as a tomb-stone. 

Under the soldier's name were written 
only these words: "He died for me." M 

This was a touching exhibition of love 
and gratitude. But how much greater rea-, 
son have we as sinners with grateful hearts, 
to inscribe on the uplifted cross; " jesus died for me." 




Watts' hymn illustrated. 



421 



C 



11 Well might the sun in darkness hide, 
And shut his glories in." 




HISTORIAN gives us the following interesting 
facts : — 

" The wonderful darkening of the sun at our Lord's 
death, and earthquake, are recorded by Phlegon, whom 
Eusebius calls an excellent computer of the Olympiads. 
He says : 'Then there was a great and wonderful eclipse 
beyond any that ever happened. The day, at the sixth 
hour, was so far turned into dark night that the stars 
appeared ; and an earthquake in Bithynia did overthrow 
many houses in the city of Nice. 

"'Now this darkening of the sun recorded by Phlegon 
and that in the holy evangelists at our Lord's death, are 
the one and the same ; for both happened the same year, 
namely, the eighteenth of Tiberius ; the same hour, viz, 
the sixth hour of the day; and a great earthquake made 
both more memorable. 

"'Therefore, Tertulian, when pleading the cause of 
Christians against the heathen, appeals to their public 
tables and records as witnesses of the fact. 

"'Lucianus of Antioch, the martyr, appeals to the 
archives of Nicomedia, before the president of the city : 
'Consult/ said he, 'the annals, and you'll find that, in 
the time of Pilate, while Christ suffered, in the middle 
of the day, the sun did disappear, and chase away the 
day.' 'Tis also observable that it is reported in the 
history of China, written by Hadrianus Greslonius, that 
the Chinese remark: 'That at the same time we Christ- 
ians compute Christ suffered, in the month of April, an 
extraordinary eclipse, beyond the laws and observa- 
tion of the motions of the planets, then happened, at 
which event Quamvutius the emperor was very much 
moved. y 



422 



Watts' hymn illustrated. 



^ 



c 



"Here, Lord, I give myself away." 

R. RALPH WELLS tells of a little girl who pre- 
sented him with a small bouquet of dandelions — an 
ordinary flower, but early, and doubtless the only one 
she could well procure at that season. He inquired why 
she gave him the bouquet. 

"Because I love you," the child answered. 

"Do you bring little gifts to Jesus?" said Mr.' Wells. 

"Oh," said the little child, " I give myself to Him." 



fNE evening several newly-converted people were 
telling each other what God had done for their souls. 
Among them a little girl about seven years of age, with 
a face beaming with happiness, said, "I have given up 
my heart to Jesus, every bit of it ! " 

§WO days after a boy had found the Saviour he 
appeared at a meeting with a sad countenance. A 
tear was trickling down his cheeks. His pastor said 
to him, " What is the matter, John? I thought you had 
given your heart to Jesus. " 

"Yes," said John, "I did give him my heart, but I 
have taken it back again. " 



HAVE given my tongue to God," said a little boy, 
" so I must take care how I use it. " 




YOUNG man, very poor, having no money to put 
on the plate at a missionary meeting, wrote on a slip 
of paper, " Myself, " and dropped that in. 

AID a little girl, "Mother, I can't tell how happy I 
felt in prayer this morning! When I gave myself 
to God, it seemed as if there was a sun in my heart." 



£ 



Watts' hymn illustrated. 



423 




C 



"Tis all that I can do." 



/J) HIS is the last line of the hymn noticed on the pre- 
($h ceding pages. 

In eastern Pennsylvania, during: a season of revival, 
a lad solicited the prayers of the church for some two 
weeks, and on the last night of the protracted meeting, 
having found no relief, he proposed to two Christian 
friends, on leaving the church door, that if they would 
pray for him at their homes, he would spend the night 
in prayer. 

Entering: a barn he ascended the hav-mow and en- 
gaged in earnest pleadings for mercy. The dawn of day 
scattered the darkness of night but found him still 
shrouded in gloom. When at length the streaks of sun- 
light shot across the haymow, he arose from his knees in 
utter despair, saying in the deepest agony, "Well, its all 
of no use, I have done all I can do. " As he seated him- 
self upon the beam which overhung the threshing-floor 
his eyes were opened to see his mistake in hiding behind 
what he and others were doing, rather than in what 
Christ had already done for him. So leaving go every 
human prop his heart utterance was, 

11 A guilty, weak and helpless worm 
On thy kind arms I fall, 
Be Thou my strength and righteousness, 
My Jesus, and my all. " 

As he dropped from the haymow 7 , he seemed to fall 
into the loving arms of his complete Saviour, fully real- 
izing the import of the words, 

« Tis all that I can do. " 

and ran out of the barn with joyful haste to tell his 
friends the good news of his salvation. 



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424 



Watts' hymn illustrated. 



"Love so amazing, so divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all. " 





OMETIMES these lines are 
sung when they do not give 
a true expression of the feel- 
ings of the heart. As these 
thoughts were brought out in 

r-$ ft^P^SIB^ J§F a cnar ity sermon, a stingy 

Christian, nearly deaf, uncon- 
sciously talked out the strug- 
gle that was going on within. 
As reported by the Presbyter- 
ian, " he sat under the pulpit 
with his ear trumpet directed upward toward the preach- 
er. The sermon moved him considerably. At one time 
he said to himself — "I'll give ten dollars;" again he 
said, "I'll give fifteen." At the close of the appeal he 
was very much moved and thought he would give fifty 
dollars. Now, the boxes were passed. As they moved 
along, his charity began to ooze out. He came down 
from fifty to twenty, to ten, to five, to zero. He con- 
cluded he would not give anything. "Yet said he, 
" this won't do — I am in a bad fix. This covetousness 
will be my ruin." 

"The boxes were getting nearer and nearer. The 
crisis was now upon him What should he do? The 
box was now under his chin — all the congregation were 
looking. He had been holding his pocket-book in his . 
hand during this soliloquy, which was half audible, 
though in his deafness he did not know that he was 
heard. In agony of the final moment lie took his pock- 
et-book and laid it in the box, saying to himself as he 
did it, — " Now squirm old natur I" 



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Watts' hymn illustrated. 



425 



*^d 



" Singing Lies. " 

LITTLE girl gave as her reason for not singing in 
Sunday school, that she could not sing lies. After 
relating some of her wicked acts to her mother, she 
asked, "How then could I stand up and sing: — 

"Jesus loves me, this 1 know, " 
Is it not as wrong to sing as it is to tell lies?" 

jNa church in London, the hymn commencing, 
^g» " When I survey the wondrous cross, " 

was sung after a collection had been taken. 
When it ended the preacher' slowly repeated the 
last line : — 

" Demands my soul, my life, my all. " 
adding, "Well, I am surprised to hear you sing that. 
Do you know that altogether you only put fifteen shillings 
into the bag this morning." 




negro woman in Jamaica was very fond of going to 
missionary meetings, and singing with great fervor, 

" Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel. ' 
But whenever the plates went round for collection she 
always sang with her eyes fixed on the ceiling. On one 
occasion, however, a negro touched her with the plate, 
and said : " Sissy, it's no use for you to sing ' Fly a- 
broad ' with your eyes on the ceiling ; it's no use to sing 
'fly ' at all, unless you give something to make it fly, " 

GENTLEMAN in Kentucky worth $100,000 was 
present at a meeting to solicit aid for some sufferers. 
He wept profusely, and when the plate went round 
he gave fifty cents; whereupon a little girl sitting near, 
said : " That was a heap of crying for a little giving. " 



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Watts' hymn. 




G 



A Hymn Illustrated while it was Being Sung". 

SPEAKER, arguing in favor of addressing the eye 
as well as the ear, said that man was more anxious 
to see than to hear. As evidence he referred to the 
almost universal tendency, during preaching, for an au- 
dience to turn round their heads to see when any persons 
may be entering the church, no matter what is being said. 

Commencing the delivery of a course of "Illustrated 
Sermons" in a section of New Jersey, where the people 
had become accustomed to swing around their heads when- 
ever the church door swung open, we were considerably 
impressed with a singular coincidence. 

In these sermons, we have the hymns painted on can- 
vass to appear above the pulpit in the same frame-work 
that supports the Scripture scenes used as illustrations, 
so that all are enabled to join in the singing. On this 
occasion the hymn being sung was : — 

" Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, 
With all Thy quick'ning power." 

But as we got along to the words, 

" Look how we grovel here below, 
Fend of these trifling toys, " 

they turned their heads around with a groveling look 
to see what " earthly toys " were appearing at the opening 
church door. A few kept on singing the timely words : — 

" In vain we tune our formal songs, 
In vain we strive to rise. " 

But as a long string of other tardy ones came pressing up 
the aisles, the sound gradually languished away as 
only a very few continued truthfully to sing: — 

" Hosannas languish on our tongues, 
And our devotion dies, " 

until at length the pastor, myself, and the organ sang out : 

" Dear Lord, and shall we ever live 
At this poor dying rate. " 




w 



Watts 9 hymn illustrated. 



429 



" Kindle a flame of sacred love." 




SPEAKER, in illustrating the want of religious 
enthusiasm, said : — 

"A Scottish doctor got fidgety because the train was 
delaying. 

"'What's the matter? Isn't there plenty of water?' 
some one asked. 

" ' O yes, ' was the reply ; i there's plenty o' water ; but 
it isn't a bilin' ! ' 

"There is the trouble with a great many trains of use- 
fulness that ought to be moving. Water enough, but ' it 
isn't a boiling ! ' " 

44 &UPPOSE, " says one, " we saw an army of soldiers 
qp before a granite fort and they told us they intended 
to batter it down, we might ask, with what ? " 
They point to a cannon-ball. Well, but there is no pow- 
er in that. They say, ' No ; but look at the cannon. ' 
Well, but there is no power in that. A child may ride 
upon it ; a bird may perch in its mouth. It is a machine, 
and nothing more. 'But look at the powder.' Well, 
there is no power in that ; a child may spill it, a sparrow 
may pick it. Yet this powerless powder and powerless 
ball are put in the powerless cannon ; one spark of fire 
enters it, and then in a twinkling of an eye that powder 
is a flash of lightning, and that cannon-ball is a thunder- 
bolt, which smites as if it had been sent from heaven. 
So it is with our church ( or school ) machinery of this 
day ; we have the instruments necessary for pulling down 
strong holds, but oh, for the fire from heaven ! " 

It was the "live coal" from the altar that touched the 
lips of Isaiah ; it was when the Spirit rested upon the 
disciples as flaming tongues of fire that they were endued 
with power. John was a burning and shining light. 



C 



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430 



Watts 7 hymn illustrated. 



C 



A Hymn that a Church Refused to Sing. 

§HE late Rev. R. V. Lawrence related the following 
interesting incident that occurred in New Jersey: 
"A minister was called to take charge of a congre- 
gation that his predecessor had left in a blessed state of 
revival, with hearts all aglow with the heavenly fire. 

"At the first prayer-meeting service he began to read 
the hymn : — 

"' Come Holy Spirit heavenly dove 
With all Thy quickening powers," 

As he read the next two lines, 

'" Kindle a flame of sacred love 
In these cold hearts of ours ' 

a brother called out, 'Dear pastor, that hymn does not 
suit us. Our hearts are not "cold."' As he still pro- 
ceeded in reading the next verse, 

" Look how we grovel here below 
Fond of these trifling toys ! 
Our souls can neither fly nor go 
To reach eternal joys. ' 

another responded 'We can "fly" and "go" and "reach 
eternal joys."' 

"The confused pastor however persisted in reading 
the third verse. 



Ul In vain we tune our formal songs 
In vain we strive to rise: 
Hosannas languish on onr tongues 
And our devotion dies. ' 

When being told again that their songs were not 'formal,' 
thatiheir ' hosannas ' did' not 'languish/ he closed by 
saving, 'Well, that is my condition if it is not yours.' 
Asking the prayers of the warm hearted brethren on his 
behalf, he dropped on bended knees. " 



£/ 



Watts' hymn. 



431 




A Hymn to Wake up the Sleepers. 

PASTOR, preaching in Southern New Jersey, find- 
ing a goodly number of his hearers accustomed to 
take a churchly nap, undertook a plan to break up 
the habit. He told his chorister that on some occasion 
when he found his drowsy hearers asleep, he would stop 
preaching and turn around to drink a glass of water, 
and when that signal was given he should, without any 
further notice, burst out in singing the hymn : — 

u iMy drowsy powers why sleep ye so ? 
Awake ! ray sluggish soul. " 

One evening as he observed the sleepy heads nodding, 
he thought he would try his experiment. So coming to 
a sudden stop in his discourse, he lifted the glass of water 
to his lips, but the expected sound of singing did not 
follow. When lo! to his astonishment, he found the 
chorister himself asleep. A friend near by who was 
in the secret woke him up, when he saw at a glance what 
was wanted, and at once commenced singing the appro- 
priate words; 

" My drowsy powers v by sleep ye so ? 
Awake ! my sluggish soul. 
Nothing has half thy work to do 
Yet nothing's half so dull. " 

This aroused the sleepers, who, thinking that the ser- 
mon had closed and that this was the last hymn, at once 
arose to their feet, as was the custom in singing. But as 
they stood alone, and saw others laughing, they soon 
perceived their mistake and one after another sat down 
a^ain to the great amusement of the wakeful part of the 
audience. 

It was a long while before the pastor had occasion to 
resort to another expedient to stir up the " drowsy pow- 
ers " of " sluggish souls. " 




Q 



432 



"Jesus, I love thy charming name." 




C 



11 I'll speak the honors of Thy name 
With my last laboring breath." 



HEN Beveridge was on his death-bed a ministerial 
friend called to see him. When conducted into 
the bed-room, he said, "Bishop Beveridge, do 
you know me?" "Who are you?" said the Bishop. 
Being told, he answered, "I don't know you." 

Another friend, equally well-known, asked him the 
same question; but still his answer was, "I don't 
know you." 

Then his wife asked him if he knew her; still the an- 
swer was, "I don't know you." At length, one said, 
"Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ?" "Jesus 
Christ?" said he, reviving, as if the name had the in- 
fluence of a charm ; " O yes, I have known him these 
forty years. Precious Saviour, he is my only hope. " 



49ERY similar was the experience of Rev. Dudley 
(?[? A. Tyng, who breathed out towards his last the ever- 
memorable words, "Stand up for Jesus." 
Says his father, Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, — 
" But the power of life was now very rapidly sinking. 
Soon he seemed no longer conscious of our presence, his 
eyes were fixed, and the blood settled around them in 
the dark hue of death. 

"At his physician's request, I roused him again, and 
asked him with a loud voice, 'Do you see me, my dear 
son?' 'No. ' 'Do you know me?' 'No.' 'Do you 
not know your father's voice?' 'No.' His wife then 
made the same attempts, with the same result. Then 
I said, 'Do you know Jesus?' 'Oh! yes,' in a voice of 
wonderful strength and deliberation, very loud, as if to 
be able to hear his own voice, and very slow, as if the 
power of speech was passing away, ' 1 know Jesus. " 



1 



Watts 9 hymn illustrated. 



433 




C 



" And must this body die ? 
This mortal frame decay? " 



ERXES the Great, was much 
impressed by this thought while 
ou his way to conquer Greece. 
Having paused on the banks 
of the Hellespont, he gathered 
around him his immense army 
of some two million soldiers in 
battle array, — the largest body 
of men, it is thought, that were 
ever before or since thus assem- 
bled. After causing a marble 
throne to be erected on an emi- 
nence, he seated himself upon it. As he looked down 
upon such a sea of upturned faces, — of men willing to do 
or dare anything for their leader, — smiles of approbation 
wreathed his countenance, but, at length, tears were 
found to stream down his face, when an astonished friend 
by his side inquired, " Xerxes the Great, why weepest 
thou?" He replied, "The thought has just filled my 
mind, that in one hundred years hence, not one of 
those millions will be above ground." 

" Shall I not weep?" 




i 



/fiHIS was the question of Rabbi Jochanan Ben Zachi. 
^ When sick his disciples visited him, and as he began 
to weep, they said unto him, "Rabbi, the light of Is- 
rael, the right hand pillar, wherefore dost thou weep?" 
He answered "Now I am going before the King of 
kings, the holy God; if he condemn me to death, that 
death will be eternal; there are before me two ways, the 
one to hell and the other to paradise, and I know not 
into which they are carrying me, shall I not weeipV 




® 



434 Charles Wesley. 



«0' 



c: 



Charles Wesley and his Hymns. 

MONG uninspired men, whom God has raised up to 
<eP furnish songs for Zion, Watts and Wesley stand pre- 
eminent. Which of the two was the greater, the 
light of eternity only can reveal. Neither is it a matter 
of any great moment for us to know, as both laid their 
trophies at Jesus' feet and crowned Him Lord of all. 
"Watts created a people's hymnal; Wesley created a peo- 
ple of hymn singers." Watts wrote in retirement and 
leisure; Wesley amid a great religious upheaval, and 
under the inspiration of the moment. The hymns of 
Watts were begotten in time of general religious dearth; 
those of Wesley, amid the refreshing showers of a gracious 
revival. While Wesley wrote seven thousand hymns, 
and thus excelled in numbers, Watts wrote but six hun- 
dred and ninty-seven, and yet far outnumbers Wesley in 
the quantity of his hymns in actual use.* Isabella L. 
Bird, an able and prolific writer on the subject of hym- 
nology, says: — - 

" Judging from the results of an examination of seven 
hundred and fifty hymn books, it is safe to assign to 
Watts the authorship of two-fifths of the hymns, which 
are used in public worship in the English speaking 
world." 

Charles Wesley was born December, 18, 1708. He 
was the third son of the Rev. Samuel Wesley, Sr., who 
was rector of the Episcopal church at Ep worth, England. 

It is not surprising that the Wesleys became so emi- 
nently useful, when we look into the heart of their saintly 
mother, who trained them for service. Writing of her 
Saviour, says she: "O my dear Charles, when I consider 
the dignity of his person, the perfectness of his purity, 
the greatness of his sufferings, but above all, his boundless 
love, I am astonished and utterly confounded. I am lost 




lu Methodist churches Weslej'a hymnj outnumber Watts' more than four-fold. 




LMJ&fh 



f? 






Wesley continued. 



437 



C 



in thought, 
a singular 



I fall into nothing before Him." It was 

coincidence that Wesley wrote the following 

lines, when he was forty, and died in his eightieth year. 

"And have I measured half my days, 
And half my journey run ? "* 

Having been thrown from his horse one day, he made 
the following record : " My companions thought I had 
broken my neck; but my leg only was bruised, my hand 
sprained, and my head stunned, which spoiled my making 
hymns until — next day." From 1738 to 1788, Wesley 
issued, in connection with his brother, John, thirty-nine 
different books of hymns and poetry. 

The Church of England closed her doors against Wes- 
ley while living, but now her most magnificent cathedrals 
echo with such of his hymns as " Hark, the herald angels 
sing," "Christ the Lord is risen to-day," and "Hail the 
day that sees Him rise." The hymns used by the eleven 
millions of people, which the Methodists are supposed to 
number, are mainly his, and every year as his merits 
become better known, and as Christians get nearer each 
other as they get nearer the cross, the hymns of Charles 
Wesley become more highly appreciated and more widely 
used. 

Wesley began to write hymns when he was twenty- 
nine and kept his pen going till in his eightieth year, 
and when at last it dropped from his hand, in the hour 
of death, he could not yet keep silent, but dictated his 
last hymn, just as he was preparing to mount up, and 
join in the hallelujahs of the skies. How 
therefore his last words in verse: — 



significant 



u In age and feebleness extreme, 
Who shall a helpless worm redeem? 
Jesus my only hope thou art, 
Strength to my failing flesh and heart; 
Oh, could I catch a smile from thee, 
Then drop into eternity." 



w 



&ee Creamer's •■ Methodist ilymuology," page Hi. 



438 



Cliarlcs Wesley's hymn. 



C 




A Thousand Tongues to Sing. 

O Charles Wesley, the Christ- 
ian world is indebted for many 
of its most precious hymns. The 
instrument that led him into 
the sunlight of God's grace, was 
a Mrs. Turner, a poor Mora- 
vian woman. 

During a spell of sickness, he 
was detained in London, at the 
house of a pious mechanic, 
of whom, it is said, " he knew 
nothing but Christ." 
After a night of agony, Wesley awoke, May 21 1738, 
" full of tossings to and fro, " calling aloud, " O Jesus, 
thou hast said, ' I will come unto you. ' Thou hast said, 
i I will send the comforter unto you. f Thou hast said, 
' My Father and I will come unto you and will moke our 
abode with you. ' Thou art God, who can'st not lie. I 
wholly rely upon thy promise." 

As Mrs. Turner heard these plaintive cries, she was 
constrained to gently say through the slightly opened 
door, " In the name of Jesus of Nazareth arise, and be- 
lieve, and thou shalt be healed of all thy infirmities. " 

It was "a word fitly spoken. " Said he, " O that Christ 
would but thus speak to me, " and then added " I believe, 
I believe. " The victory was won. The clouds of unbe- 
lief melted away, before the rising sun. 

With a heart burning with love to the newly-found 
Saviour, he took his pen, and wrote the hymn ; 

" for a thousand tongues to sing 
My dear Redeemer's praise ; 
The glories of ray God aid King, 
The triumphs of hia grace ! " 



1/ 



Charles Wesley } s hymn. 



439 




r 



may it all ray powers engage 
To do my Master's will. " 



HARLES WESLEY fully exemplified these lines of 
his hymn, relating to "A charge to keep I have." 
Mr. Moore gives this description of his absorption 
in the work of his life, even when nearly eighty years 
of age: — " He rode every day — clothed for winter even 
in summer — a little horse, gray with age. When he 
mounted, if a subject struck him, he proceeded to expand 
and put it in order. He would write a hymn thus given 
him, on a card kept for that purpose, with his pencil, in 
short hand. Not unfrequently he has come to the house 
in the City Road, and having left the pony in the gar- 
den in front, he would enter, crying out, 'Pen and ink! 
pen and ink ! ' These being supplied, he wrote the hymn 
he had been composing. When this was done, he would 
look round on those present and salute them with much 
kindness, and thus put all in mind of eternity. He was 
fond on these occasions of the lines, — 

"There all the ship's company meet. 

Who sailed with the Saviour beneath ; 
With shouting each other they greet, 

And triumph o'er sorrow and death; 
The voyage of life's at an end, 

The mortal affliction is past; 
The age that in heaven they spend 

For ever and ever shall last. " 

When Newton, whose busy pen produced many of our 
church hymns, was eighty years of age, he was advised 
to relax his manifold labors. "I cannot stop," said he, 
raising his voice. "What! shall the old African blas- 
phemer stop while he can speak?" 

John Wesley said in like manner in old age: — 

u My body with my charge lay down, 
And cease at once to work and live. " 



440 



Origin of C. Wesley's hymn. 




r 



Origin of " Jesus lover of my soul. " 

HARLES and John Wesley, and Richard Pilmore 
were holding one of their twilight meetings on the 
common, when the mob assailed them, and they 
were compelled to flee for their lives. 

Being separated for a time, as they were being pelted 
with stones, they at length in their flight, succeeded in 
getting beyond a hedge row, where they prostrated them- 
selves on the ground, and placed their hands on the back 
of their heads for protection from the stones which still 
came so near that they could feel the current of air made 
by the missiles as they went whizzing over them. 

In the night shades that were gathering, they manag- 
ed to hide from the fury of the rabble in a spring-house. 
Here they struck a light with a flint-stone, and after 
dusting their clothes, and washing, they refreshed them- 
selves with the cooling water that came bubbling up in 
a spring, and rolling out in a silver streamlet. 

Charles Wesley pulled out a lead pencil ( made by 
hammering to a point a piece of lead, ) and from the in- 
spiration of these surroundings, composed the precious 
hymn : — 

" Jesus, lover of my soul. " 

The flight had no doubt suggested the second line : — 

" Let me to Thy bosom fly." 

The waters gliding at his feet, — 

11 While the nearer waters roll. " 

Thus it was originally written. It is now often sun^: — 

** While the billows near me roll. v 

The tempest and storm from which they had just found 
a hiding-place, the figure, — 



Cliarles Wesley's hymn. 



441 



11 While the tempest still is high; 
Hide me, my Saviour hide 
Till the storm of life is past." 

As each was left alone to seek safety in flight, — 

" Leave, Oh, leave me not alone, 
ttill support and comfort me." 

Trying to cover their defenceless heads with their hands, 

the lines, — 

" Cover my defenceless head 

With the shadow of Thy wing. " 

Having sunk to the ground, faint and weary, the third 
verse. As this is generally omitted, we give it entire : — 

• l Wilt Thou not regard my call ? 

Wilt Thou not accept my prayer? 
Lo 1 I sink, I faint, I fall ! 

Lo! on Thee I cast my care. 
Reach me out Thy gracious hand I 

While I of Thy strength receive, 
Hoping against hope I stand, 

Dying, and behold I live. " 

Washing their wounds and bruises the thoughts of the 
last verse, which is the fifth in the original, — 

11 Let the healing streams abound, 
Make and keep me pure within. " 

And lastly, the fountain of spring-water from which 

they drank, and obtained fresh life, — 

" Thou of life the fountain art, 
Freely let me take of Thee. 
Spring Thou up within my heart 
Rise to all eternity. " 

.These interesting facts were given by Mr. Pilmore, 
who was an eye-witness, to an intimate friend, Mr. 
Hicks, who stated them to Rev. I. H. Torrence of 
Phila., from whom I received them. 

The same statement was also previously given to me 
by the aged Rev. Dr. Collier, who received them from 
an Englishman, who was co-temporary with Wesley. 




/ — 

L 




c 



442 Charles Wesley's hymn. 



"Jesus, lover of my soul," on a Sinking Ship. 

tEARS ago the following touching incident was pub- 
lished in the Baptist Reaper concerning two sisters: 
"In the midst of their conversation, at the dusk of 
the evening, they were alarmed by the stopping of the 
boat. As the girls and Mr. Percy, who were the only 
passengers on board, rushed to the deck, they were as- 
tonished to see the vessel abandoned by the captain and 
the whole crew, who had just seated themselves in the 
only boat which had been on board the steamer, and were 
pulling for the rocky coast, only about a mile distant. 
The agitation was fearful when the captain stated that 
the steamer had sprung a leak, and would sink in a few 
minutes. 

" ' Oh, stop, stop, for heaven's sake, and save us, too ! ' 
cried Mr. Percy. 

u i No, ' answered the captain, somewhat confused, ' the 
boat will hold no more ; some one will have to be lost. ' 

"Mr. Percy examined the steamer, and found that she 
was fast sinking, and that in a very few moments more 
there would be no possible way of escape. He looked 
this way and that, to find some means of fleeing to the 
shore, but he could see no hope. At length he found a 
a small hatch which could easily be detached, and which, 
with great skill of management, and the kind favor of 
Providence, might save one. He threw it into the wa- 
ter and embarked upon it. It was with great difficulty 
that he kept afloat, and while he was within a few feet 
of the steamer, it sunk before his eyes. What passed 
through the minds of the girls, as they met death so sud- 
denly and so terribly, we can only imagine. The period 
for Mr. Percy's escape was so short, and so full of the 
most fearful excitement, that he can tell us but little 
about them. As the steamer was gradually sinking be- 




singing; on a sinking vessel. 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 



445 



C 



side his slender raft, he saw them standing on the deck, 
with their arms around each other, and singing : — 

"Jesus, lover of my soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly, 
"While the raging billows roll, 
While the tempest still is high. 

As they were about finishing the verse, — 

" All my trust on Thee is stayed ; 
All my help from Thee 1 bring ; 
Cover my defenceless head 

W T ith the shadow of Thy wing. : ' 

they sank to rise no more. 



Leave, ah! leave me not alone." 



f°EY. T. L. CUYLER thus refers to these lines in 
" Jesus, lover of my soul. " 

"The one central, all-prevailing idea of this matchless 
hymn is the soul's yearning for its Saviour. The figures 
of speech vary, but not the thought. In one line we see 
a storm-tossed voyager crying out for shelter till the 
tempest is over. In another line we see a timid, tearful 
child nestling in a mother's arms, with the words fal- 
tering on its tongue — 

" Let me to Thy bosom fly, " 
" Hangs my helpless soul on Thee. " 

Two lines of the hymn have been breathed fervently 
and often out of bleeding hearts. When we were once in 
the valley of death-shade, with one beautiful child in the 
new-made grave, and the others threatened with fatal dis- 
ease, there was no prayer which we said oftener than this : 

" Leave, ah ! leave me not alone, 
Ftill support and comfort me. " 

We do not doubt that tens of thousands of other bereaved 
and wounded hearts have tried this piercing cry, out of 
the depths, " Still support and comfort me ! 



» 



w 



446 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 




W*g$n A? 



V 



Singing Among the Billows. 

SHIP was on fire at sea. 
During the alarm and confu- 
sion, a mother and babe were 
crowded overboard. She 
clung to a piece of the wreck 
and drifted out upon the ocean 
billows. 

Toward evening a vessel 
bound to Boston was moving 
slowly along her course. As 
the captain was walking on the 
deck, his attention was called to an object, some distance 
oif, which looked like a person in the water. As no 
vessel was near, the crew thought no one could have fall- 
en overboard. To satisfy their curiosity, a small boat was 
sent towards the object. 

To the surprise of those who remained on deck, they 
saw that as the rowers approached the drifting speck, 
they rested on their oars some minutes, then moved on 
and took in a person or thing. As the boat's crew re- 
turned bringing the woman and child, they explained 
it all, by saying that as they drew near they heard sing- 
ing — a female voice sweetly singing. So astonished 
were they that they ceased rowing to listen, when over 
the waves came ringing the words of the hymn, — 
"Jesus lover of my soul." 
What joy thrilled this mother's heart in finding that 
while singing the words, — 

"While the billows near me roll, 
While the temoest still is high ; 
Hide me, Oh my Saviour, hide, 
Till the storm of life is past.'' 

Jesus was extending a helping hand, and a hiding-place. 



c 



w 



Charles Wesley's hymn illustrated. 



447 




" Other refuge have I none. " 

URING the rebellion in Ireland in 1793, the rebels 
had long meditated an attack on the Moravian set- 
tlement at Grace-Hill. At length they put their 
threat in execution, and a large body of them marched 
to the town. When they arrived there, they saw no one 
in the street nor in the houses. 

The brethren had long expected this attack, but true 
to their Christian profession, they would not have re- 
course to arms for their defence but assembled in their 
chapel, and in solemn prayer besought Him in whom 
they trusted, to be their shield in the hour of danger. 

The ruffians, hitherto breathing nothing but destruc- 
tion and slaughter, were struck with astonishment at 
this novel sight. Where they expected an armed hand, 
they saw it clasped in prayer. Where they expected 
weapon to weapon, and a body armed for the fight, they 
saw the bended knee. They heard the prayer for pro- 
tection; they heard the intended victims asking mercy 
for their murderers ; they heard the song of praise, and 
the hymn of confidence in the "sure promise of the 
Lewd." So impressed were they by what they thus saw 
and heard, that they left the place without doing any 
harm. Others afterward fled to it as " the city of refuge. 



;> 



8 a little bird was closely pursued by a hawk, it flew 
for refuge into a garden, and strove to hide among 

the bushes, but the hawk followed ; the little bird again 
flew, but again barely escaped. Just, however, as its 
strength was nearly exhausted, and as it would have 
been torn to pieces by its pursuer, the garden -gate was 
opened, and a poor old man entered; the little bird flew 
towards him and darted into his breast, where it nestled 
safely from the hawk. 




C 



448 



Charles Wesley's hymn illustrated. 




" Jesus lover of my soul " in a Hurricane. 

OME twenty years ago a ter- 
rific gale swept along the rock 
bound coast of the British 
Channel. The crew in charge 
of a coasting vessel struggled 
hard and long to reach some 
shelter, but in vain. Getting 
into a small boat, they left the 
ship. " Then came the last pull 
for life; the boat was swung 
off and manned; captain and 
crew united in one more brave 
effort, but their toiling at the oar was soon over, their 
boat was swamped. 

"They seemed to have sunk together, l and in death 
they were not divided/ for, when the morning dawned, 
they were found lying all but side by side under the 
shelter of a weedy rock. The ship was borne in upon a 
heavy sea close under the cliff, where she was jammed 
immovably between two rocks, and in the morning the 
ebb tide left her lying high and dry. There was no 
sign of life on deck. One token of peace and salvation 
there was ; it was the captain's hymn-book still lying on 
the locker, closed upon the pencil with which the good 
man had marked the last passages upon which his eye 
had rested before he left the ship to meet his fate. A 
leaf of the page was turned down, and there were pencil 
lines in the margin at several passages of Charles Wesley's 
precious hymn : — 

<( Jesus, lover of my soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly." 



C 



Charles Wesley's hymn illustrated. 



449 



C 




The Last Hymn on a Wrecked Vessel. 

N the Maria mail-boat in 1826 
five missionaries, three wives of 
missionaries, with several child- 
ren and nurses were returning 
to Antiqua. In sight of land, 
a storm arose, and before its 
fury the mail-boat was wrecked. 
When the storm arose, one of 
the missionaries' sons, a little 
boy, gave out the verse com- 
mencing, 

" Though waves and storms go o'er my head. " 

After this had been sung, a holy inspiration came over 
the child, and he astonished the party in the boat by the 
address he gave on the ship-wreck of Jonah. A strange 
feeling came over those who heard the child. Mrs. Jones, 
the wife of one of the missionaries, tried to pray, but 
could not. At length she cried, " Lord ! Lord ! help me." 

Scarcely had she uttered the words, when she became 
composed and repeated the verse : — 

"Jesus protects; my fears begone." 

In that time of trouble and sorrow, she gladdened her 
own heart and those of her companions, by singing for 
the last hymn most of them heard on earth : — 

"When passing through the watery deep, 
I asked in faith His promised aid, 
The waves an awful distance keep, 
And shrink from my devoted head ; 
Fearless their violence I dare ; 
They cannot harm for God is there." 

She was the only one who could sing in that distressing 
hour, and the only one saved in that redeemed company. 



D 



452 



Charles Wesley's hymn illustrated. 



c 




Singing as death's " billows near me roll. " 

TTERANCES of joy, and sing- 
ing of hymns have often char- 
acterized the departure of God's 
faithful martyrs. 

A touching scene of this kind 
occurred in Scotland, during 
the reign of James II. 

The king was a Papist, and 
endeavored to compel his sub- 

JL 

jects to become Roman Catho- 
lics. The " Covenanters were 
driven to the bleak moors or mountain gorges, where 
alone they could worship the God of their fathers. 

" Spies and informers were sent to the meetings, who 
gave to the government the names of those whom they 
saw present on such occasions, and many were thus, for 
no other offences, dragged to the scaffold, or shot in the 
open field." 

Margaret Wilson of Wigtown, a girl eighteen years 
of age, with her sister Agnes, a child of thirteen, was in 
the habit of attending- these meetings. 

Being informed on by a young man whom they took 
to be a friend, they were thrown into prison. The ter- 
ror-stricken father, alarmed for the safety of his child- 
ren, hastened to Edinburgh, and by paying a heavy sum 
obtained the liberation of his younger daughter. 

But Margaret, they would not release. With an old 
woman named Mary McLachlin, over seventy years of 
age, who was charged with the same offence, she was 
condemned to be drowned. 

The two women received their sentence with cheerful 
composure. 

On the morning of May 11th 1665, the day fixed for 



£< 



Charles Wesley's hymn illustrated. 



453 



C 



the execution of this cruel sentence, they were led down 
to the shore under a guard of soldiers, commanded by 
Major Windham. 

They were both to be fastened to stakes along the 
sea-shore, so that when the tide would rise they would 
be drowned. 

The old woman's stake was fixed further in beyond 
the other, so that Margaret should witness her death 
struggles and be induced to recant her faith. 

Calmly did Margaret watch the, water overflowing 
her fellow-martyr. 

As some one asked what she thought of her now, she 
replied, "What do I see but Christ wrestling there? 
Think you we are the sufferers? No, it is Christ in us ; 
for he sends none on a warfare upon his own charges." 

WJrile the tide was approaching, she mingled her 
voice with the murmuring waves by singing the 25th 
Psalm, beginning with the words : — 

"Let not the errors of my youth, 
Nor sins remembered be , 
In mercy, for thy goodness sake, 
Lord, remejiber me." 

She then repeated with a cheerful voice the eighth 
chapter of Romans, ending with this sublime sentence, 
"For lam persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor 
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things pres- 
ent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any 
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the 
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

She then prayed, and while thus engaged, the water 
which had been gradually swelling around, covered her 
head. 

A monument was erected in the neighborhood shortly 
after the Revolution, to commemorate the heroism of 
the two martyrs. 



1/ 



454 



Charlzs Wesley's hymn illustrated. 



r 



The Drummer Boy's Last Hymn. 

CHAPLAIN in our army one morning found Tom, 
the drummer-boy, a great favorite with all the men, 
and whom, because of his sobriety and religious ex- 
ample, they called " the young deacon," sitting under a 
tree. At first he thought him asleep, but, as he drew 
near, the boy lifted up his head, and he saw tears in his 
eyes. 

"Well, Tom, my boy, what is it; for I see your 
thoughts are sad ? What is it ? " 

" Why, sir, I had a dream last night, which I can't 
get out of my mind. " 

"What was it?" 

" You know that my little sister Mary is dead — diea 
when ten years old. My mother was a widow, poor, but 
good. She never seemed like herself afterwards. In a 
year or so, she died too ; and then I, having no home, 
and no mother, came to the war. But last night I 
dreamed the war was over, and I went back to my home, 
and just before I got to the house, rny mother and little 
sister came out to meet me. I didn't seem to remember 
they were dead! How glad they were! And how my 
mother, in her smiles, pressed me to her heart! Oh! 
sir, it was just as real as you are real now ! " 

" g Thank God, Tom, that you have such a mother, not 
really dead, but in heaven, and that you are hoping, 
through Christ, to meet her again. " The boy wiped his 
eyes and was comforted. 

The next day there was terrible fighting, Tom's drum 
was heard all day long, here and there. Four times the 
ground was swept and occupied by the two contending 
armies. But as the night came on, both paused, and 



neither dared 



to go on 



the field, lest the foe be there. 



Tom, " the young deacon, " it was known, was wounded 



W 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 



455 



r 



and left on the battle-field. His company encamped 
near the battle-field. In the evening, when the noise of 
battle was over, and all was still, they heard a voice 
singing, away off on the field. They felt sure it was 
Tom's voice. Softly and beautifully the words floated 
on the wings of night: — 

" Jesus ! lover of my soul. 

Let me to Thy bosom fly, 
While the billows near me roll, 

While the tempest still is -high. 
Bide me, my Saviour hide, 

Till the storm of life is past ! 
Safe into the haven guide, 

Oh, receive my soul at last. 

" Other refuge have I none, 

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee ! 
Leave, ah ! leave me not alone, 
Still support and comfort me !" 

The voice stopped here, and there was silence. In the 
morning the soldiers went out, and found Tom sitting on 
the ground, and leaning against a stump — dead ! 

This touching narrative is given by The Sunday 
School Times. 



"Can say 'Hallelujah' now." 



<£> 



ft) wo children were very ill in the same room. The 
v|p elder one was heard attempting to teach the younger 
one to pronounce the word, "Hallelujah," but with- 
out success. The little one died before he could repeat 
it. 

When his brother was told of his death, he was silent 
for a moment, and then, looking up at his mother, said: 
"Johnny can say ' Hallelujah, ' now mother." In a few 
hours, the two brothers were united in heaven, singing 
together "Hallelujah." 



456 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 



Q 



Effects of Singing " Jesus lover of my soul. " 

CORRESPONDENT of the American Baptist 
Chronicle furnishes the following interesting narra- 
tive : — 

" ' It is of no use, ' said Frank B impatiently 

throwing down a book. * I have gone through a whole 
pile of books: have listened to arguments enough to sat- 
isfy a whole regiment of lawyers, but it all remains a 
mystery to me. I wonder whether, after all, there is 
such a thing in the world as a religion that will satisfy 
all these restless longings ?' As he paused a moment in 
his walk the sound of singing reached his ear ; he opened 
the door and listened. It was the children's nurse just 
putting her young charge to bed. Clear and distinct 
came the tone to Frank's ear, — 



u ' Jesus ! lover of my soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly, 
While the raging billows roll, 
While the tempest still is high.' 

"'Ah!" thought the listener, 'that is just what I 
need. I would give the world to be able to sing that 
from my soul.' 

" Still the sweet restful music came floating down : — 

"'Other refuge have I none, 

Hangs my helpless soul on thee ! ' 



a 



He could stand no more, but going back into the 
room, he muttered : — ' Other refuge, indeed ! I have not 
even that ; and none of these books that I have so pa- 
tiently read have given it to me. All the money that 
I have given away has brought me no peace. I have 
tried good works and miserably failed. ' 

" < Thou, Christ, art all I want. ' 
" ' I am not so sure of that ' murmured he. ' It would 
be like a beggar in his filthy garments, associating with 





A YOUNG MAN SUNG TO CHRIST. 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 



459 



r 



a king in his royal robes. ' As though it were the echo 
of his thought he heard again, — 

"' I am all unrighteousness; 
Vile and full ol sin I am, 
Thou art full of truth and grace. ' 

" ' I wonder whether that girl sings those words from 
her heart, ' thought he some time afterwards as he 
was preparing to go out. As he was passing the kitchen 
door, it was ajar, and he saw Mary sitting by the table, 
holding a book so that the dim rays of the candle should 
fall upon it ; and so intently engaged in reading, that, 
except for a low murmur you might have thought her a 
statue. * What can she be reading ? ' thought he : ' some 
novel, I suppose, nothing else would so fascinate a young 
girl like her ; then all that singing amounts to nothing 
after all !' And stealing behind her, he peeped over her 
shoulder. It was a well used Bible, and she was read- 
ing in an undertone, — ' This is a faithful saying and 
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into 
the world to save sinners; of whom I am the chief. ' 

" ' That's me ! ' said Frank, unconsciously aloud. 
" Mary dropped her book, and started, but Frank said 
earnestly, ' Do you really think, Mary, that Jesus can 
love sinners ? What a love that must be ! ' 

" Mary's eyes grew moist, as she said, — ( The love of 
Christ, which passeth knowledge. ' 

" Here at the feet of this humble disciple of her Sa- 
viour, did the proud Frank B drink in the truth as 

it is in Jesus. Here was his heart filled with that peace 
which he had failed to find in his good works ; which he 
had sought for in vain in learned essays. It was not 
long before, in the fullness of his joy, he could exclaim, — 
1 Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins 

in his own blood, to him be glory and dominion 

for ever. Amen ! ' " 



1/ 



460 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 




Beecher's Idea of " Jesus, lover of my soul. " 

MONG the many forcible re- 
marks that Rev. Henry Ward 
Beecher has made in relation 
to hymnology, we give the 
following; says he, "I would 
rather have written that hymn 
of Wesley's — 

"Jesus, lover of my soul, 

Let me to Thy bosom fly," 

than to have the fame of all the 
: "^ J \ kings that ever sat on the earth. 

It is more glorious. It has more power in it. I would 
rather be the author of that hymn than to hold the wealth 
of the richest man in New York. He will die. He is 
dead, and does not know it. He will pass, after a little 
while, out of men's thoughts. What will there be to 
speak of him? What will he have done that will stop 
trouble, or encourage hope? His money will go to his 
heirs, and they will divide it. It is like a stream di- 
vided and growing narrower by division. They will 
die, and it will go to their heirs. Thus in a few genera- 
tions everything comes to the ground again for redistri- 
bution. But that hymn Avill go on singing until the last 
trump brings forth the angel band; and then, I think, it 
Avill mount up on some lip to the very presence of God. 
I would rather have written such a hymn than to have 
all the treasures of the richest man on the globe." 

Of the last hours of Dr. Lyman Beecher, the father of 
Henry Ward Beecher, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe says: 
"The last indication of life, on the day of his death, was 
a mute response to his wife, repeating — 

'Jesus, lover of my soul, 

Let me to Thy bosom fly. ' " 



r 



Ovaries Wesley's hymn. 



4C1 



An Accident the Occasion of a Hymn. 



r 



j||N Charles Wesley's " Hymns and Sacred Poems," 
3p is the hymn that commences, — 

" Glory, and thanks, to God we give, " 

which he says was written " after deliverance from 
death by the fall of a house. " 

George J. Stevenson gives the following account : — 
" The accident which originated this fine composition 
is related in Charles Wesley's journal. On his third 
visit to Leeds he met the society in an old upper room, 
which was densely packed, and crowds could not gain 
admission. He removed nearer the door, that those 
without might hear, and drew the people towards him. 
Instantly the rafters broke off short, close to the main 
beam, the floor sank, and more than one hundred peo- 
ple fell, amid dust and ruins, into the room below. 
One sister had her arm broken, and set immediately ; 
rejoicing with joy unspeakable. Another, strong in 
faith, was so crushed, that she expected instant death, 
but she was without fear, and only said, in calm faith, 
1 Jesus, receive my spirit. ' A boy of eighteen, who 
had come to make a disturbance, who struck several 
women on entering, was taken up roaring, ' I will be 
good! I will be good ! } They got his leg set, which 
was broken in two places. The preacher did not fall, 
but slid down softly, and lighted on his feet. His hand 
was bruised, and part of the skin rubbed off his head. 
He lost his senses, but recovered them in a moment, and 
was filled with power from above. He writes, 'I lifted 
up my head and saw the people under me, heaps upon 
heaps. I cried out, ' Fear not : the Lord is with us ; 
our lives are all safe ; ' and then gave out to be sung, — 

11 ' Praise God from whom all blessings flow. ' " 



1) 



462 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 



CROSS BEARING IN SONG. 





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^gsTJ^' 



ECISION for Jesus, was richly 
rewarded in the case of the 
daughter of an English noble- 
man. She was led to visit a 
Church in London, and became 
( a devoted Christian. 

She was the idol of her father 
and it was with deep regret that 
he noticed the change that had 
taken p ace in her views and con- 
duct. 

He placed at her disposal large sums of money, and 
by threats, temptations to extravagance in dress, by read- 
ing works of fiction, and by traveling in foreign coun- 
tries, yea, by every means, in his power, he tried to di- 
vert her mind from things unseen and eternal. 

But her heart was fixed. She resolved that, by divine 
help, nothing should displace her Saviour from the cen- 
tre of her affections. 

At last her father resolved upon one final and desper- 
ate expedient. A large company of the nobility were in- 
vited to his house. The drawing room was crowded. 

It was arranged that all the daughters of the nobility 
present should entertain the company with a worldly 
song, accompanied by the piano, and her father deter- 
mined that if his daughter refused, she should, as far as 
property was concerned, be ruined! She felt that if she 
complied, she would grieve away the Holy Spirit, and 
be again entangled in the world. If she refused, she would 
lose caste and be disgraced in society. Dreadful was the 
moment ! 

With peaceful confidence she awaited the arrival of 
her turn to occupy the piano and sing. At last her name 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 



463 



was called ; for a moment all were in silent suspense to 
see how she would act. 

Without hesitation she arose, and with a calm, digni- 
fied step, went to the instrument. She spent a moment 
in silent prayer, and then with a sweetness and solemnity 
almost supernatural, she sang, accompanying her voice 
with notes on the instrument, the following hymn: 

No room for mirth or trifling here, 
For worldly hope or worldly fear, 

If life so soon is gone ! 
If now the Judge is at the door, 
And all mankind must stand before 
The inexorable throne. 

No matter which my thoughts employ, 
A moment's misery or joy ; 

But, oh, when both shall end, 
Where shall I find my destined place? 
Shall I my everlasting days. 

With fiends or angels spend ? 

Nothing is worth a thought beneath, 
But how I may escape the death 

That never, never dies. 
How make my own election sure, 
And when I fall on earth, secure 

A mansion in the skies. 

Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray, 
Be thou my guide, be ihou my stay, 

To glorious happiness; 
Oh, write thy pardon on my heart, 
And whensoe'r 1 hence depart, 

Let me depart in peace ! 

The minstrel ceased. The solemnity of eternity over- 
shadowed the assembly. They dispersed in silence, the 
father wept aloud. He sought the instructions and 
prayers of his dear child. His soul was saved, and after 
uniting with the church, he contributed to benevolent 
purposes over half a million of dollars. 



r 



464 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 



The Actress and " Eepth of Mercy.'' 

N actress of an English theatre was one day passing 
through the streets, when her attention was attracted 
by the sound of voices in a poor cottage. Curiosity 

prompted her to look in at the open door, when she saw 

a few praying people, who were singing: 

" Depth of mercy ! can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me? " 

Her attention was riveted by these words, and she was 
invited to enter. After listening to prayer, she left, but 
the words of the hymn followed her. She became truly 
penitent, and resolved to leave the stage. Telling the man- 
ager, he attempted to overcome her scruples by ridicule, 
then by the loss he would incur, and then as the last re- 
quest to appear but once more in a piece in which she 
was quite popular. She consented to this last request, and 
in the evening appeared at the theatre. 

The play required her first to sing a song : and when the 
curtain was drawn up, the orchestra began the accompa- 
ment. But she stood as if lost in thought. The music 
ceased, and, supposing her to be overcome by embarrass- 
ment, the band again commenced. A second time they 
paused for her to begin, and still she did not open her lips. 
A third time the air was played, and then with clasped 
hands, and eyes suffused with tears, she sang, 

"Depth of mercy ! can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me ? 
Can my God His wrath forbear? 
Me, the chief of sinners, spare ? " 

The performance suddenly ended. Some ridiculed, but 
others were led " to consider their ways, " and cry for 
mercy too. 

She lived a consistent Christian life and at length 
became the wife of a minister. 



c 



! 



Charles Wesley's hymn. 



465 



t^f 



Origin of "Come, Thou all-victorious Lord." 

§HIS hymn was written by Charles Wesley while 
preaching at Portland, a peninsular section of Eng- 
land, noted for its stone quarries. Here, on this iso- 
lated spot lived many rude and uncared-for quarry men, 
whose eternal welfare lay near the heart of Wesley. 

Arriving there June 4, 1746, he commenced a series 
of meetings, of which he says: "I preached to a house- 
ful of staring, loving people, from Jer. i, 20. Some wept, 
but most looked quite una wakened. At noon and night 
I preached on the hill in the midst of the island. Most 
of the inhabitants came to hear, but few as yet feel the 
burden of sin or the want of a Saviour. " 

" Sunday, June 8. — After the evening service we had 
all the islanders that were able to come. I asked, ' Is 
it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?' About half a 
dozen answered, 'It is nothing to us, ' by turning their 
backs; but the rest hearkened with greater signs of emotion 
than I had before observed. 

" Monday, June 9. — At Southwell, some very old men 
attended. I distributed a few books among them, rode 
round the island, and returned by noon to preach on the 
hill, and by night at my lodgings. Now the power and 
blessing came. My mouth and their ears were opened. 
The rocks were broken in pieces and melted into tears on 
every side. " 

With the sound of stone-breaking echoing all around 
him, and Jeremiah's comparison of "the word . . . like 
a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces," he penned 
the appropriate lines, commencing, — 

li Come, Thou all victorious Lord, 
Thy power to us make known : 
Strike with the hammer of Thy Word, 
And break these hearts of stone ! " 




c 



1/ 



466 



Charles Wesley 1 s hymn. 



C 



The Song in the Alley. 

tN a narrow alley in Boston, noted for its poverty and 
haunts of vice, a young gas-fitter was sent one winter 
evening in 1873, to repair a gas pipe. Near by was 
the North End Mission Chapel, surrounded by dance 
halls and tippling shops. The alley was very foggy and 
still, and the music of harps and fiddles seemed to echo 
in strange contrast with the inspiring strains of "Coro- 
nation," and other familiar tunes that issued from the 
house of God. The young gas-fitter was weary, and 
paused at times in this extra work to listen to this com- 
mingling of musical sounds. At last there was a loud 
outburst of song in the chapel. Through the crisp even- 
ing air echoed the words of Wesley's hymn : — 

"Jesus, the name high over all, 
In hell, or earth, or sky ; 
Angels and men before it fall, 
And devils fear and fly. 

"Jesus, the name to sinners dear, — 
The name to sinners given ; 
It scatters all their guilty fear; 
It turns their hell to heaven. 

"Jesus the prisoner's fetters breaks, 
And bruises Satan's head ; 
Power into strengthless souls He speaks, 
And life into the dead. " 



sung, 



The refrain and chorus to these stanzas were heartily 
but he could not distinguish the words. The 
music affected him strangely. There was something 
in the tinkling sounds, coming out of the beer rooms that 
told him of the emptiness of earth's follies. 

"I wish I was a true Christian," said the young man, 
as he resumed the work in the basement. As the bell 
was striking nine he again paused, and went to the base- 
ment window and listened. The chapel seemed silent, 



w 



diaries Wesley's hymn. 



467 



c: 



but there was a mingling of people, and a murmuring of 
voices out on the street, and the tinkling of instruments 
in the dance halls still went on. He stood thinking, and 
the old thoughts returned with greater force, that there 
was no hope or promise in any pursuits or pleasures which 
were destitute of God. The music and the sounds of 
laughter seemed a mockery. He again said, as he was 
about to resume his work, "I would like to be a Chris- 
tian." Something detained him a moment more at the 
window. A low bent form flitted through the misty ring 
of light at the head of the alley, and approached with a 
pattering step in the deep shadows. It was an old wo- 
man returning from the chapel. She was singing. It was 
the hymn which he had imperfectly heard. He waited 
for the refrain : — 

"Jesus, the name high over all, 
In hell, or earth, or sky ; 
Angels and men before it fall, 
And devils fear and flv. 
how I love Jesus, 
how I love Jesus, 
liow I love Jesus, 
Because He first loved me. " 

The old woman passed on and disappeared through one 
of the dark doors at the foot of the alley. She knew not 
the sermon her song had preached. Then and there the 
young man saw what he wanted to make him happy, 
what the world wants to make it happy, — the love of 
Jesus. On the following day he arose in the Young 
Men's Christian Association rooms, related substantially 
the above story, and asked the remembrance of prayers. 
A great change had come over his feelings. Jesus had 
been, as it Were, revealed to him as both his need and 
his Saviour, in the song in the alley. 

We are indebted to Mr. H. Butterwork for this inter- 
esting narrative. 




W 



468 



C, Wesley's hymn. 



C 




The Death Song of a Murdered Christian. 

BOUT the year 1854 the unu- 
sual scene of a court room in 
tears was witnessed in Exeter 
Castle, England. It is thus 
described by Rev. S. W. Chris- 
tophers: — "A good young wo- 
man had been set upon by a 
villain on her way from the Sun- 
day school, and w T as left for dead 
by the roadside. On being dis- 
covered, she was restored to con- 
sciousness so far as to identify the perpetrator of the 
crime ; and then she died, singing one of Charles Wes- 
ley's triumphant anthems of hope : 

" How happy every child of grace, 
Who knows his sins forgiven! 
This earth, he cries, is not my place, 
1 S2ek my place in heaven ; 

" A country far from mortal sight ; — 
Yet, oh ! by faith I see 
The land of rest, the saints' delight, 
The heaven prepared for me. 

" To that Jerusalem above 
With singing I repair; 
While in the flesh my hope and love, 
My heart and soul are there." 

" The counsel for the prosecution at the murderer's trial, 
in his appeal to the jury, described the death scene, and 
rehearsed the hymn, a part of which the dying girl sang 
on her upward flight. The judge, the jury, all but the 
prisoner, wept. Who could help it? To hear, in that 
solemn court, the youthful martyr's song of glory ! and 
such a song ! " 




W 



C. Wesley's hymn. 



4G9 



Ci 



A Mob Occasioning a Hymn. 

N many occasions, Charles Wesley and his associates, 
were assaulted by men of the " baser sort. " His hymn 

" Worship, and thanks, and blessing, etc.," 

written after a deliverance in a tumult, " and was 



was 



ti 



often sung after similar occurrences. Of the " Mob at 
Devizes" in 1747, he writes a long account, of which 
we give a part from Mr. Creamer's " Hymnology/ 

" I looked back and saw Mr. Merton on the ground, 
in the midst of the mob, and two bull-dogs upon him. 
One was first let loose, which leaped at the horse's nose ; 
but the horse with his foot beat him down. The other 
fastened on his nose, and hung there, till Mr. Merton, 
with the but end of his whip felled him to the ground. 
Then the first dog recovering, flew at the horse's breast, 
and fastened there. The beast reared up, and Mr. Mer- 
ton slid gently off. The dog kept his hold till the flesh 
tore off. Then some of the men took off the dogs ; others 
cried, i Let him alone. ' I stopped the horse, and 
delivered him to my friend. He remounted, with 
great composure, and we rode on leisurely, as before, till 
out of sight. Then we mended our pace, and in an hour 
came to Seend, having rode three miles about, and by sev- 
en to Wrexall. The news of our danger was got thither 
before us, but we brought the welcome tidings of our 
own deliverance. Now we saw the hand of Providence, 
in suffering them to turn but our horses ; that is to send 
them to us against we wanted them. Again, how plain- 
ly were we overruled to send our horses down the town, 
wmich blinded the rioters without our designing it, and 
drew off their engines and them, leaving us a free pas- 
sage to the town ! We joined in hearty praises to our 
Deliverer, singing the hymn, — 

" ' Worship, and thanks, and blessing, etc. ' " 



£ 



470 



C. Wesley's hymn. 



"Lo!ona narrow neck of land. 



C 



HIS grand hymn was written on the narrow neck 
®> of land in England called Land's End, on the coast 
of Cornwall. It is " between two unbounded seas, 
the Bristol Channel to the north, and the English Chan- 
nel to the south ; or we may add, the great Atlantic 
Ocean to the west, and the German Ocean to the east, 
all uniting at this point. " 

There is said to be a rock in the water at the divid- 
ing point, so pivoted that it is rocked to and fro by the 
pressure of the two oceans. 

What a striking picture of the position of an Eternity 
bound human being. 

Rev. Thomas Taylor, a cotemporary with Wesley, 
having visited Land's End in 1761, says, " Here, Mr. 
Charles Wesley wrote, 

' Lo ! on a narrow neck of land. ' " 

Dr. Adam Clarke, a personal friend of Wesley, also 
says, Oct. 11. 1819:— 

"I write this on the last projecting point of rock of 
Land's End, upward of two hundred feet perpendicular 
above the sea, which is raging and roaring tremendous- 
ly, threatening destruction to myself and the narrow 
point of rock on which I am sitting. On my right hand 
is the Bristol Channel, and before me the vast Atlantic 
Ocean. There is not one inch of land from the place on 
which my feet rest to the American continent. This is 
the place where Charles Wesley composed those fine 
lines, — 

" 'Lo ! on a narrow neck of land, 

'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand, 

Yet how insensible ! 
A point of time — a moment's space — 
Removes me to yon heavenly place 
Or shuts me up in hell ! ' " 



C. Wesley's hymn illustrated. 



471 



'Is it true?" 

&> . . 

(kHE inquiry suggested by this hymn had great empha- 

C§) sis given, to it by a touching incident, related to the 

author by an old physician, who kindly entertained 

me during the delivery of a course of Illustrated Sermons 

at Mount Joy, Pa. , 

Having asked him how many of the unconverted he had 
known, during his life, to leave this world, whose eyes w T ere 
open to see what was before them, said he, " I can 
recall but two cases. I hope never to meet with another 
like the one. 

"A lady, taken suddenly ill, sent forme. I saw at 
once that she could not live twenty-four hours, and told 
her so. Said she, ' Doctor, it cannot be; you must be 
mistaken. I'll send for an older physician. ' And so 
she did. I waited till he arrived. As he saw the symp- 
toms he corroborated what I had said. • Oh ! said she, is 
it true? True, that in less than a day, I shall leave this 

world, I shall be in eternity? Dr. S , as you 

have told me the truth, stay with me till I am gone.' 
From that time on she shrieked out continually, ' E-ter- 
ni-ty. E-ter-ni-ty. Oh ! to think I am so near eternity ! ' 
I talked and prayed with her, but my voice could not 
be heard amid her repeated cries of the word, 'Eternity! 
O Eternity !' 

"The house was on a high hill. There were no shades 
or shutters to the windows. And to add still further to 
the impressiveness of the occasion, a thunder shower arose 
during the night. While her glaring eyes and quivering 
lips were evincing the agony of soul within, the lightning 
flashes were intensifying the scene without. While to 
the thunder's roar, she would respond with the bitter cry 
of 'Eternity! O Eternity!' and with these words upon 
her lips, she passed away. " 




C 



472 



E. M. Long's hymn. 



^C 



PASSING AWAY. 

Words and Muiic by Rev. E. M. Long. 



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1. " Watch and pray, watch and pray," Hear the lov - ing Sa - viour say, 



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Such an hour when all is bright, Death may come with shades of night. 



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Time is pass - ing, pass - ing quick a-way, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, 



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And the judg - ment day, And then 



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2. Holy One, Holy One, 
Through the merits of thy Son, 
Grant, that when life's storms are 
I may dwell with thee at last. [past. 

3 Spirit, come! Spirit, come! 
Let thy perfect work be come ; 



Clothe me now, that T may rise, 
Robed in white, to yonder skies. 

4. Make me pure, pure within, 
Cleanse my soul from every sin, 
I shall then prepared be, 
I For a long eternity. 



1/ 



E. M. Long's hymn illustrated. 



473 




Passing Away. 

ERY solemn was the incident 
that attended the singing of this 
hymn, and illustrated its senti- 
ments. Soon after its composi- 
tion I was delivering a course 
of " Illustrated Sermons" at 
Newport, Pa. 

At the first service my last 
painting was an illustration of 
the words, " Time No Longer, " 
by which I sought to impress 
the audience with our momentary nearness to eternity, 
and referred to the many persons I had met with, who, in 
the twinkling of an eye, had passed away. Then to give 
emphasis to these thoughts, I closed by singing the 
hymn, " Passing Away." 

Three pews from the pulpit sat one whose eyes saw the 
words, shining in gilt, before him, "Time No Longer," 
whose ears heard my voice, singing the words, 

" Such an hour as ye think not, 
Death may come a thief at night. " 

After walking home from church, a distance of about 
two squares, he ascended the porch of his house with a 
firm step. Placing his hand on the door latch, he was 
heard to exclaim, " Don't let me fall. " Caught by the 
arms of his wife, he was laid down — a corpse. 

The next morning I was awakened from my slumbers 
by the tolling of the church bell, which startled the vil- 
lage by the news, " George Mickey dropped dead on his 
way home from church last night. " 

He had eaten a hearty supper, and spoken of his health 
as being unusually good. Surely, " there is but a step 
between me and death. " 




C 



Ml 



474 



C. Wesley's hymn illustrated. 



"Eternal Things Impress." 




/jifHESE words occur in the second verse of 



'" Lo ! on a narrow neck of land. " 

To impress eternal things, a lady wrote on a card, and 
placed it oh the top of an hour-glass in her garden-house, 
the following simple verse from the poems of J. Clare. 
It was when the flowers were in their highest glory : 

" To think of summers yet to come, 
That I am noi to see ! 
To think a weed is yet to bloom 
From dust that 1 shall be! " 

The next morning she found the following lines, in 
pencil, on the back of the same card : 

u To think when heaven and earth are fled 

And times and seasons o'er, 
Whea all that can die shall be dead 

That 1 must die no more ! 
where will then my portion be ! 
Where shall I spend eterniy.'" 

An impressive figure is contained in the following : — 

Kail the water flowing round this earth, 

And with ten thousand times as much, were pent 

In a huge cistern, whose unwieldly bulk 

The whole contained ; but at one leaky pore 

At certain periods should one drop dispense; 

And at the distance often thousand years, 

Of intervening time, those periods fix; 

— Yet sooner twice ten thousand times the whole, 

Thus drop by drop shall draw the ocean dry, 

Than the duration of eternity, 

One moment or its endless term abridge ! 

r lhen what avails it, whether here we t;iste 

Life's transient joys or heart-corroding cares, 

If we, in peace and triumph end our race ; 

A race how like thi shuttle's rapid flight, 

Or faint illusion of* a morning dream ! " 






& 



C. Wesley's hymn. 



475 



<k Give me the enlarged desire. " 

/j'PIIS is one of Charles Wesley's hymns, in which he 
(3) gives expression to those heart-yearnings so charac- 
teristic of the growing Christian, who would be " filled 
with all the fullness of God. " 

This hymn is also associated with the memory of John 
Fletcher, who was the Head-Master of Lady Hunting- 
don's College at Trevecca, for the education of young 
ministers, of which Mr. Fletcher was the President. 

Referring to his devotion, Mr. Benson says: "After 
speaking a while in the school-room, he used frequently 
to say, 'As many of you as are athirst for thisfullnesbof 
the Spirit, follow me into my room. ' On this, many of 
us have instantly followed him, and there continued for 
two or three hours, wrestling like Jacob for a blessing, 
praying one after the other till we could bear to kneel 
no longer. This was not done once or twice, but many 
times. And I have sometimes seen him on these occa- 
sions, once in particular, so filled with the love of God 
that he could contain no more, but cried out, 'O my God, 
withhold thy hand, or the vessel will burst. } But ho 
afterward told me he was afraid he had grieved the Spirit 
of God, and that he ought rather to have prayed that 
the Lord would have enlarged the vessel, that the soul 
might have no further interruption to the enjoyment 
of the Supreme God. For, as Mr. AVesley has observed, 
the proper prayer on such an occasion would have been : — 

'Give me the enlarged desire, 

And open, Lord, my soul, 
Thy own fullness to require 

And comprehend the whole. 
Stretch my faith's capacity 

Wider and yet wider still ; 
Then with ;.ll that is in Thee 

My ravished spirit All. ' " 




c: 



£) 



476 



C. Wesley's hymn. 




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An Evening Funeral Song. 

%?MONG the Cornish miners in England they are 
£o accustomed to sing on the way to the church and 

^ from the church to the grave at the funeral of a 
comrade. Rev. S. W. Christophers says : — 

"Some few years ago, of a summer's evening, a long 
crowd was seen passing down the church path from the 
town, pressing around a bier as if they would guard it 
in front, flank, and rear, and singing as they moved. 

" The strain was measured like their steps, and it was 
in the minor key, although it seemed at times more like 
a triumphant shout than a wail of sorrow. They were 
keeping up the beautiful custom of their fathers, the even- 
ing funeral, and the burial hymn from the house of be- 
reavement to the grave. They were singing one of their 
tunes to one of Charles Wesley's grandest hymns : — 

u Rejoice for a brother deceased, 

Our loss is his infinite gain ; 
A soul out of prison released, 

And free from its bodily chain ; 
With songs let us follow his flight 

And mount with his spirit above, 
Escaped to the mansions of light, 

And lodged in the Eden of love." 

" The bier and the train passed into the ancient sanc- 
tuary, by and by again to appear, moving towards 
the grave. The benediction had scarcely closed the fu- 
neral service before the devout multitude once more 
lifted up its voice — it was a full, a mighty voice — and, 
pressing around the open grave, they uttered in thrilling 
tones that glowing and impassioned hymn that seems to 
melt the earthy and the heavenly into one — 

" Come, let us join our friends above, 
That have obtained the prize." 



w 



C. Wesley 's hymn. 



477 



"Why, I shall Sing Forever!' 

fHUS spake a young Cornish miner. Shortly before he 
had heartily joined in singing at the evening burial 

of a comrade, not thinking, perhaps that his burial song 
should soon follow. But so it was. On his triumphant 
death bed he remarked : 

" I am going ! said he, " I am going ! going early ; but 
God has brightened my short life into a full one! Oh, 
those hymns ! they have taught me to live in the light 
of the future ! They have been my ' songs in the house 
of my pilgrimage' ! How often while I have sung them 
down deep in the mine has the darkness been light about 
me ! Never, since I learnt to praise God from my heart, 
have I begun to work in the rock for blasting, without 
stopping a moment to ask myself, Now, if the hole 
should go off about me, am I ready for heaven ? Some- 
times, sir, there has been a little shrinking and some 
doubt, and then I have dropped on my knees, and ask- 
ed God to bless me before I took one stroke; and never 
did I pray in vain ; my prayer has always passed into 
praise. And those blessed hymns have come bursting 
from my heart and lips as I have toiled at the point of 
death ! 

" Oh, sir ! do you remember our singing at our last fu- 
neral?' 'Yes,' it was replied, 'and some thought 
then, that you would never sing again!' ' Never sing 
again, sir ! why, I shall sing for ever ! Oh that glorious 
hymn, let us sing it now ! ' And he began — 

" Oh ! that we now might grasp our Guide ! 
Oh ! that the word were given ! 
Come, Lord of Hosts ! the waves divide, 
And land us — land — me — now in — 

"Heaven!" he would have sung, but he was gone! 
He had joined another choir ! 



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°0 



478 John Wesley. 

John Wesley and his Hymns. 

(p HE number of hymns composed by Rev. John Wesley 
Cg) is not exactly known, as at first he and his brother 
u agreed not to distinguish their hymns from each 
other." Some thirty are ascribed to him in the Meth- 
odist hymn-book. Of these the best are his translations 
from the German, such as 

"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,'' 

" Commit thou all thy griefs.'' 

In person, Wesley has been described as "rather 
below the middle size, but beautifully proportioned, with 
a forehead clear and smooth, a bright penetrating eye, 
and a lovely face, which retained the freshness of its 
complexion to the latest period of his life." 

Our limits prevent us from going into the many in- 
teresting details of his eventful life, neither is it necessary, 
since his career and great achievements, as the founder 
of Methodism, have made his history familiar to all. 

John Wesley was born June, 17th, 1703, and born 
again, as he says, May 24, 1738. Although he had en- 
tered the ministry, and crossed the ocean to preach to the 
settlers and Indians in America, yet he himself was igno- 
rant of the way of life. On the failure of his mission, 
and his return to London, he met with the Moravians, 
and especially Peter Bcehler, and by him, says Wesley, 
"I was clearly convinced of unbelief, and of the want of 
that faith whereby aLne we are saved." On the evening 
of the day referred to, when listening to the reading of 
Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, he says: 
"While he was describing the change, which God works 
in the heart, through faith in Christ, I felt my heart 
strangely warmed ; I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ 
alone, for salvation ; and an assurance was given me that he 
had taken away my sins, even mine." 








pr r\ at_ ^c/ e 



John Wesley. 



481 



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As in his childhood, every possible avenue and means 
were made use of to save him from his father's burning 
house, so he thought it but proper, that in saving souls 
from eternal burnings, every available instrumentality 
should be employed. Hence his frequent use of song. 
A church at New Castle grew out of a revival, that 
started among the crowd that were drawn together by his 
singing a Psalm in the street, on a Sunday morning*. 

The familiar hymn, entitled "The Pilgrim," is con- 
sidered an epitome of his autobiography. It commences, 

" How happy is the pilgrim's lot ! 
How free from every anxious thought, 

Fro n worldly hope and fear ! 
Confined to neither court not cell, 
His soul disdains on earth to dwell, 

He only sojourns here." 

Mr. Creamer says: "This hymn was published about 
five years before his unhappy union with his wife, at a 
period when he had probably no intention of ever enter- 
ing the marriage state, and breathes only the language of 
one, who had devoted to God, as he had done, his ease, 
his time, his life, and his reputation." This fact gives 
a clue to a verse now generally omitted, that says, 

" I have no sharer of my heart, 
To rob my Saviour of a part, 

And desecrate the whole : 
Only betrothed to Christ am T, 
And wait his coming from the sky, 
To wed my happy soul." 

"Wesley's busy life closed on the 2nd of March, 1791? 
he being then in the eighty-eight year of his age, and the 
sixty-fifth of his ministry. After the spirit had left its 
clay tenement, his friends gathered around his cold re- 
mains and sang: — 

"Waiting to receive thy spirit, 
Lo ! the Saviour stands above ; 
Shows the purchase of his merit, 
lleaches out the crown of love." 




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482 



Isaac Watts. 



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"TO praise my Maker while I've breath." 

tOHN Wesley improved the first line of this express- 
ive hymn of Watts, and illustrated its sentiments at 
last. It is associated with the tender scenes of his death- 
bed. 

Stevenson states that on Monday, February 28, 1791, 
he was exceedingly weak, slept much, and spoke but 
little. On Tuesday morning he sang two verses of a 
hymn, then, lying still, as if to recover strength, he called 
for pen and ink, but could not write. Miss Ritchie pro- 
posed to write for him, and asked what to say. He 
replied, "Nothing, but that God is with us." In the 
forenoon he said, "I will get up." While they were 
preparing his clothes, he broke out in a manner that as- 
tonished all who were about him in singing : — 



" I'll praise my Maker -while I've breath ; 
And when my voice is lost in death, 

Fraise shall employ my nobler powers; 
My days of praise shall ne*er be past, 
While life, and thought, and being last, 
Or immortality endures. " 

Having finished the verse, and sitting upon a chair, they 
observed him change for death. But he, regardless cf 
his body, said with a weak voice, "Lord, Thou givest 
strength. " He then sung his brother's doxology : — 

;{ To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
Who sweetly all agree. " 

Here his voice failed. After gasping for breath he said, 
" Now we have done all. " He was then laid on the bed, 
from which he rose no more. After a while he exclaimed, 
"The best of all is, God is with us," and until his last 
breath he kept trying to repeat the hymn of Watts, but 
could only get out the words : — 

" I'll praise, I'll praise. " 



& 



John Wesley's hymn. 



483 



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Wesleys Hymn and Foolish Dick. 

ESLEY'S "Pilgrim's Hymn" seemed j List suited to 
one who has been widely known as " Foolish Dick." 
Though but half-witted in early life, he became " wise 
unto salvation. " While Dick was going for water, one 
morning, an old Christian, leaning over his garden gate, 
remarked: "So you are going to the well for water, 
Dick?" "Yes, sir." "Well, Dick, the woman of Sa- 
maria found Jesus at the well." " Did she, sir ? " " Yes, 
Dick." This conversation suggested this thought, as he 
went on his way : " Why may I not find Him there too ! " 
While at the well, his heart ascended in ejaculations, 
"Oh! that I could find Him! Will He come to me?" 
He, who will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the 
smoking flax, heard these soul breathings; the fountain 
of eternal life began to well up within, and his heart 
soon became so full of peace and joy, that he could not 
refrain from telling others what the Lord had done for 
him. His conversion seemed to add strength to his fac- 
ulties of memory and speech. When a portion of Scrip- 
ture, or a hymn was read in his hearing, it would im- 
print itself upon his mind in such a way that he could 
retain and reproduce it. Constrained by love to Christ 
and perishing souls, he commenced to itinerate as an 
Evangelist. Though he went without purse or scrip, 
yet he never lacked food or clothing, and many were the 
seals to his ministry. Wesley's hymn was his favorite, 
and in the dwellings that gave him a welcome, he would 
sit, and waving to and fro, would sing the favorite lines : — 

"No foot of land do I possess, 
No cottage in this wilderness; 

A poor wayfaring man, 
I lodge awhile in tents below; 
Or gladly wander to and fro, 
Till I my Canaan gain." 




484 



Wesley's hymn. 




Singing at the Table. 

PENING the lips in songs of 
praise to God is but "a reason- 
able service" after those lips 
have been fed by his hand. 

After participating in the 
feast of the passover, we are told 
that Jesus and his diciples 
" sung a hymn. " This consist- 
ed, doubtless, of the six Psalms 
113 — 118, that were usually 
sung at their tables on such 
occasions. 

In many of the German hymn books, we find <l Table 
Hymns. " They are used at each meal. 

A writer, speaking of the relics of Mr. Wesley, remain- 
ing in his parsonage, such as the old chair and book case, 
says, u Among the rest an old tea pot, that holds a gal- 
lon. We were told that this was made to order for him. 
On one side is inscribed, burnt in the material by the 
potter, 

'Be present at our table, Lord 
Be here and everywhere adored^ 

Thy creatures bless, and grant that we 
May feast in Paradise with Thee. ' 

These lines were always sung before sitting down to 
tea with his helpers. On the other side of this ancient 
teapot, were the words sung on rising from the table, 
and read thus, 

'We thank thee, Lord, for this our food, 
Much more because of Jesus' blood ; 

Let manna to our souls be given, 
The bread of life sent down from heaven.' 

These words are still used at the Methodist Public 
Tea meetings, and often in private families. " 



r 



Susannah Wesley, 



485 



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Singing a Hymn the Moment after Death. 

R. D. E. McNab gives an account of a friend of his, 
a young minister, who, while lying on his death- 
bed, would let no one weep for him. He bade the 
friend who waited on him to be sure the moment he died 
to sing a hymn, and he told her the hymn to sing. She 
kept her promise : as the gentle hand was shutting the 
cold eyelids on the eyes from which all light had at last 
gone out, she sang, though with a choked voiee and the 
tears streaming down her cheeks : — 

" Farewell mortality — 
Jesus is mine ; 
Welcome eternity — 

Jesus is mine ; 
He my redemption is, 
Wisdom and righteousness, 
Life, light and holiness — 
Jesus is mine. " 



tUSANNAH WESLEY was the mother of nineteen 
children, among whom where John and Charles 
the founders of Methodism. When on her death- 
bed, she said among her last utterances, "Children, as 
soon as I am released, sing a song of praise to God. " 

As the spirit Avas bursting its clay tenement, they en- 
circled her bed in prayer, and as soon as her last breath 
was drawn, they complied with her last request, and sung 
a song of praise : — 

11 Hosannah to Jesus on high ! 

Another has entered her rest: 
Another has 'scaped to the sky 

And lodged in Immanuel's breast. 
The soul of our mother is gone 

To heighten the triumph above ; 
Exalted to Jesus' throne 

And clasped in the arms of his love. ; ' 




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486 



Henry Kirk White. 



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Henry Kirk White and his Hymns. 

fENRY KIRK WHITE was born in 1785, at Not- 
tingham. His father was a butcher, and wished 
Henry to follow the same occupation, but he, being 
a "book- worm," soon lost all relish for carrying around 
the butcher's basket. At fourteen he was placed at a 
stocking-loom ; but his thirst for knowledge rendered him 
so unhappy that the mother induced the father to give 
his consent to the study of law. 

With such great avidity he pursued this, as well as 
the study of Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish and Portu- 
gese, that at the age of fifteen he became so distinguish- 
ed for his studies that he received from his preceptor a 
silver medal and other prizes. 

At seventeen he was already prominent as a writer for 
the periodicals of the day, and issued a volume of poems. 

Although he had made such rapid advances in the 
field of literature, he was a stranger to grace, and even 
pretended to disbelieve the Bible and its Author. Dur- 
ing this period, an intimate companion, Almond, was 
led by Providence to witness a death-bed scene that 
opened his eyes to his danger, and caused him to flee to 
Christ for refuge. 

As Almond now seemed to shrink from his former 
friend because of his infidel scoffings, White wished to 
ascertain the cause, and when it was stated, he felt much 
mortified, became penitent, and was assisted in find- 
ing the way to the cross by reading "Scott's Force of 
Truth," which his friend had introduced to him. 

After realizing the blessing of pardon and peace, he 
felt anxious to make his Saviour known to others. To 
this end he discontinued the study of law and prepared 
for the gospel ministry. About this time he also wrote 
the well-known hymn commencing, — 




J?ts<~<Al 



Kirk White's hymn illustrated. 



489 



C 



" When marshaled on the nightly train, 
The glittering host bestud the sky, 
One star alone of all the train 
Can fix the sinner's wandering eye. " 

This hymn vividly describes the author's conversion. 

His experience on the sea of skepticism he portrays in 

the third verse: — 

" Once on the raging seas T rode, 

The storm was loud, the night was dark. " 

In the hymn commencing — 

11 The Lord our God is clothed with might, " 

is found a much admired verse. 

" Howl, winds of night ! your force combine ; 
Without His high behest, 
Ye shall not, in the mountain-pine, 
Disturb the sparrow's nest. " 

His hymn for evening family worship is oft repeated 
in England and America: — 

" Lord ! another day has flown ; 
And we, a lowly band, 
Are met once more before Thy throne 
To bless Thy fostering hand. " 

Through his intense application to study, without rest 
or intermission by day or night, his bodily strength gave 
way, and he sank into an untimely grave in 1806, when 
but twenty-one years of age. 

'• Pale o'er his lamp, and in his cell retired 
The martyr-student faded and expired. " 

In one of his poems he seems to lament his own early 
departure in the line : — 

" Fifty years hence, and who shall hear of Henry? " 
The fifty years have gone, and yet Henry is not forgot- 
ten, and will not be as long as the church loves to repeat 
the ten precious hymns he bequeathed her as his legacy. 

" Oh, what a noble heart was here undone, 
When science self-destroyed her favorite son ! " 




£ 



490 



William Williams. 




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Let the fiery, cloudy pillar, 
Lead me all my journey through." 



EPENDE NT upon heavenly guidance 
for every step taken in life's journey, how natural 
to God's Israel is the prayer, that heads these lines, taken 
from the grand old hymn : — 

"Guide me, thou Great Jehovah." 

As this hymn is so often repeated, our readers will 
gladly welcome some acquaintance with its author, the 
Rev. William Williams, a celebrated Welsh poet. 

He was born at Cefncyoed, Carmarthenshire, Wales, 
in 1717. He commenced the study of medicine, after 
securing a good education. But after hearing the gospel 
from the lips of Howell Harris in Talgarth churchyard, 



& 



William Williams. 



491 



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he was led to Christ, and induced to prepare for the work 
of the ministry. Of his conversion his biographer says : 
"His convictions of sin were deep and alarming; but his 
subsequent joy proportionably high." He was ordained 
deacon in the English church in his twenty-third year, 
but being encouraged by Whitefield and Lady Hunting- 
don to become an itinerant minister, he was refused " full 
orders," and so united with the Calvinistic Methodists. 
His labors were ardent and incessant, continuing without 
abatement for half a century. It is said that he " trav- 
elled on an average two thousand two hundred and thirty 
miles a year, for forty-three years, when there were no 
railroads and but few stage coaches." 

He issued a number of books, containing his hymns, 
entitled as follows: "Alleluia," "The Sea of Glass," 
"Visible Farewell ; Welcome to Invisible Things," "Al- 
leluia again ; " and in English, " Hosannah to the Son of 
David," and "Gloria in Excelsis." The latter was pre- 
pared by Lady Huntingdon's suggestion, for use in 
Whitefleld's Orphan House in America. In this book 
appeared that universally popular hymn: — 
" O'er the gloomy hills of darkness." 

He died in 1791, being seventy-four years of age. 
Though his speech failed him before his departure, he 
gave signs of his happy state of mind, and that the prayer 
of his hymn "Guide me," etc., was being realized: — 

"When I tread the verge of Jordan 
Bid my anxious fears subside." 

of this hymn, generally omitted, 



The last 
reads : — 



verse 



" Musing on my habitation, 

Musing on my heavenly home, 

Fills my soul with holy longings: 
Come, my Jesus, quickly come ; 

Vanity is all I see ; 

Lord, I long to be with thee ! 



I) 



492 



William 's hymn illustrated. 



" Let the fiery, cloudy pillar 

.Lead me all my journey through. " 




fHAT Israel's God still leads the way with a pillar of 
cloud was literally shown in the experience of a Bap- 
tist minister in the mountains of Virginia, who re- 
lated the following facts to the author: — 

During the late war he was exposed to many perils 
because of his loyalty to the Union. 

One evening as he left the door of his house, an unac- 
countable presentiment of danger impressed him so much 
that he told his wife he must flee to the woods for shelter. 
After night she conveyed to him the intelligence of his 
Providential escape, saying that soon after he left a party 
of guerrillas arrived, and while some of them searched 
for him, others were erecting a gallows at the barn for 
his execution. 

During the night he was enabled to conceal himself, 
but he apprehended great difficulty the next day in get- 
ting across a wide plain that lay between two mountains, 
while on his way to the Union lines. 

The valley had no shelter and he would necessarily be 
exposed to sight and to the quick pursuit of his enemies, 
who were on horse-back. This extremity was God's op- 
portunity. As he approached the plain next day there 
arose from it a fog hiffh enough to cover him as he 
walked through it, and yet low enough to enable him to see 
above it some trees on the mountain top to guide his feet 
to the place of safety on the other side. 

Well could he sing as his feet rested on the Mount of 
Deliverance, and his eyes looked down upon the cloudy 
pillar that enabled him to get there : — 

" Strong Deliverer, Strong Deliverer, 

Be thou still my strength and shield. " 

We will also add an illustration of the "fiery pillar." 



C 



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Williams 1 hymn illustrated. 



493 




During our late war, a prisoner in Anderson ville, 
managed one night to surmount his prison, and get be- 
yond the picket line, but it was so dark that he could not 
tell which was North or South. He was afraid to move, 
for fear of moving still further southward into the ranks of 
the enemy. He had a compass with him, that pointed 
northward to the land of freedom, to his home and 
friends, but it was useless to him without light. A 
candle or even a match would have been of priceless 
value to him in this time of need, for his very life seemed 
to hang upon the needed light. In his extremity, a kind 
providence directed a little fire-fly to wing its way to his 
relief. He eagerly and gladly seized it, and its wings 
gave out light enough to let him see the finger on his* 
compass, and thus his feet were directed, and he was led 
at length to his home in safety. A beautiful illustration 
of that Spirit that lightens up the sacred page, and shows 
us the way that leads to our heavenly home. 

The following is Keble's new version of "Guide me, 
O Thou great Jehovah : " — 

11 Guide us, thou, whose name is Saviour, 
Pilgrims in the barren land ; 
We are weak, and thou Almighty; 
Hold as with thy strong right hand, 

As in Egypt, 
As upon the Red Sea strand. 

"Let the cloud and fire supernal 
Day and night before us go ; 
Lead us to the Rock and Fountain 
Whence the living waters flow ; 

Bread of heaven, 
Feed us, till no want we know. 

"When we touch the cold dark river, 
Cleave for us the swelling tide ; 
Through the flood and through the whirlpool 
Let thine ark our footsteps guide ; 

Jesus lead us ; 
Land us safe on Canaan's side." 



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£ 



494 



Williams' hymn illustrated. 




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Singing Satan away. 

tOME one says "A hymn is a singing Angel that goes 
walking through the earth, scattering the devils 
before it. Therefore, he who creates hymns imitates 
the most excellent and lovely works of God, who made 
the Angels." 

Christmas Evans, so celebrated in Welsh revivals, viv- 
idly pictures this "Scattering of the devils by God's 
Angel of song" in his sermon on "the dry places" where 
Satan "is seeking rest and findeth none." Says he: — 

"I see the unclean spirit rising like a winged dragon, 

circling in the air, and seeking for a resting place. 

Casting his fiery glances toward a certain neighborhood, 

he spies a young man in the bloom of life, and rejoicing 

in his strength, seated on the front of his cart, going for 

lime. 'There he is !' said the old dragon ; 'his veins are 

full of blood, and his bones of marrow; I will throw into 

his bosom sparks from hell ; I will set all his passions on 

fire; I will lead him from bad to worse, until he shall 

perpetrate every sin. I will make him a murderer, and 

his soul shall sink, never again to arise, in the lake of 

fire. ' By this time, I see it descend, with a full swoop 

toward the earth ; but nearing the youth, the dragon 

heard him sing, 

" ' Guide me, Thou Great Jehovah ! 
Pilgrim through this barren land , 

I am weak, but thou art mighty ; 
Hold me with thy powerful hand. 
Strong Deliverer, 
'Be thou still rcy strength and shield.' 

'A dry, dry place, this/ says the old dragon ; and away 
he goes, But I see him again hovering about in the air, 
and casting about for a suitable resting-place. Beneath 
his eye there is a flowery meadow, watered by a crystal 
stream ; and he descries among the kine a maiden, about 



M 



Williams' hymn illustrated. 



495 



eighteen years of age, picking up here and there a beau- 
tiful flower. ' There she is ! ' says Apollyon, intent upon 
her soul ; i I will poison her thoughts ; she shall think 
evil thoughts, and become impure; she shall become a 
lost creature in the great city, and, at last, I will cast her 
down from the precipice into everlasting burnings. ' 
Again he took his downward flight, but he no sooner 
came near the maiden, than he heard her sing the fol- 
lowing words, with a voice that might have melted the 
rocks : — 

11 { Other refuge have I none ; 

Hangs my helpless soul on thee; 
Leave, ah! leave me not alone; 
Still support and comfort me.' 

And so again he fled away defeated." 

The Name that makes " Devils fear and fly." 

§HE following is the first verse of one of Charles 
Wesley's popular hymns: — 

"Jesus, the Name high over all, 
In hell, or earth, or sky; 
Angels and men before it fall, 
And devils fear and fly." 

This hymn is said to have been suggested by the 
following circumstances, which are referred to in his 
Journal, August 6, 1744. 

While preaching in Cornwall, and condemning the 
drunken revels of the people, he was urging them to 
" repent and be converted/' whenpne of the congregation 
contradicted and blasphemed. "Who is he that pleads 
for the devil?" asked Wesley. As the reviler stood 
boldly forward, the preacher so fearlessly exposed his 
iniquity that the man fled from the church, as if driven 
by an irresistible power. 




r 



496 



Watford's hymn. 




c: 



"Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer." 

0;)HIS much-loved hymn appeared in an English hymn-, 
Csp book of 1849. It was written by Rev., Mr. Walford, 
a blind preacher, who was supposed to have first com- 
posed it about 1846. The tune, "Sweet hour," to which 
it has become closely wedded, was written for it by 
William Bradbury. As originally printed, it had four 
verses, of which the following was the second. As it is 
generally omitted we insert it herewith : — 

u Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, 
The joy I feel, the bliss I share, 
Of those whose anxious spirits burn 
With strong desire for thy return, 
With such 1 hasten to the place 
Where God, my Saviour, shows his face, 
And gladly take my station there, 
To wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer. " 

tN the memoir of Caroline Hyde it is stated that, though 
compelled to earn a livelihood by going from house 
to house as a seamstress, whenever her "Sweet hour 
of prayer" arrived, however employed, she would beg to 
be excused, saying that a dear friend was waiting to see her. 

§F Xavier it is said, that one day he told his servant 
to call him at the end of his usual two hours of de- 
votion. When the time arrived, as he did not respond 
to the call, the servant opened the door, and found his 
face shining with such a sweet expression of delight, and 
his soul so enraptured witb heavenly intercourse, that he 
felt reluctant to break the charm, and so waited and 
called again and again, until four hours had passed, and 
then, when he laid his hand on his shoulders, the saint 
exclaimed, " Are the two hours gone already?" He was 
utterly amazed when told that even four hours had elapsed. 



1 



Xavier's hymn. 



497 




Xavier's Hymn. 

AVIER ( Francis ) was a cel- 
ebrated Roman Catholic mis- 
sionary who was born at Na- 
varre, in 1506. 

He wrote a hymn in 1550, 
that has been echoing for over 
three hundred years, and is 
still highly prized by Christians 
of different denominations. 

In some books the first verse 
is omitted. It commences: — 



" My God, I love Thee, not because 
I hope for heaven thereby. " 

Some books commence the hymn with this verse: — 

"Thou, my Jesus, Thou didst me 
Upon the cross embrace ; 
For me didst bear the nails and spear, 
And manifold disgrace. " 

King John III. sent him out as a missionary to the 
Portuguese Colonies in the East. At Goa he baptized 
ten thousand natives in a single month. Having been 
the means of the conversion of a Japanese of high rank 
at Malacca, and having such great success in various 
parts of heathendom, he turned his attention to Japan. 

In less than three years, he established a mission here, 
that continued to flourish for above one hundred years, 
until the final expulsion of Christianity from the Empire. 

While preaching in one of the cities of Japan, a man 
drew near as if he had something to communicate. Xa- 
vier leaned his head to hear what he had to say, when 
the man spit freely upon his face. Xavier simply wiped 
his face with his handkerchief, and continued his sermon. 
By this meekness many were won to Christ. 




C 



498 



Count Nicholas L. Zinzendorf. 



Author of "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness. " 

INZENDORF wrote this 
hymn in 1739, while on a voy- 
age to visit the missionaries 
who had gone forth from 
Herrnhut to the West Indies. 

In 1740, it was translated 
<r~ by John Wesley. The origi- 
Jr 3 nal contained thirty-three 
verses. 

Zinzendorf was born at 
Dresden, May 1700. He was 
blessed with a mother and grandmother, who were 
conspicuous for their piety and talents. The latter also 




having been a writer of hymns, and religious works. 

Early in life he was remarkable for his piety, and 
while a child would gather other children together to 
pray with him. Referring in 1740 to his childhood, he 
says, "It is more than thirty years since I received a 
deep impression of Divine grace through the preaching 
of the cross. The desire to bring souls to Christ took 
possession of me, and my heart became fixed on the 
Lamb. " 

While still a youth he began to write hymns. In 
this lie continued till in old age, having composed in 
all about two thousand. 

In 1722, some poor persecuted Christians, followers 
of John Huss of Moravia and Bohemia, obtained leave 
to settle on his estate, where they built a church. 
Converts began to multiply. Zinzendorf joined them. 

This was the origin of the village of Herrnhut, and 
of the church known as the Moravian or United Breth- 
ren. 



c 



~ri 




COUNT ZINZENDORF. 



Zinzendorf continued. 



501 



f^C 



The three eras in the Moravian church comprise the 
"Ancient Church," from 1457 to 1627; the "Hidden 
Seed," from 1627 to 1722; the "Renewed Church," from 
1722 to the present time. 

In 1732, Zinzendorf, with his little band of brethren 
of Herrnhut, started the mission work, that has been so 
vigorously and extensively carried on ever since. In a 
few years four thousand natives were baptized in the West 
Indies, and the converts in Greenland numbered seven 
hundred and eighty-four. 

In 1741, he extended his travels to America, and 
preached at Germantown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 
At Oly, Pennsylvania, he ordained the missionaries 
Ration and Buettner, and after visiting various tribes of 
Indians, established at Shekomeco, the first Indian 
Moravian congregation. 

Zinzendorf was a prolific writer. His published works 
amounted to one hundred and eight in number. Many 
of his hymns w T ere produced in an impromptu manner. 
"After the discourse," says he, "I generally announce 
another hymn, appropriate to the subject. When I can- 
not find one, I compose one; I say, in the Saviour's name, 
what comes into my heart. I am, as ever, a poor sinner, 
a captive of love, running by the side of His triumphal 
chariot, and have no desire to be anything else as long as 
I live." 

In 1721, he issued the hymn H Jesu, geh voran," that 
is highly prized. It was translated into English by Miss 
Jane Borthwick, and is still found in English hymn- 
books. The first verse is 

u Jesus, still lead on, 

Till our rest be won ; 
And although the way be cheerless, 
We will follow, calm and fearless, 

Guide us by thy hand, 

To our father-land." 



c 



w 



502 



Zinzendorf concluded. 



Zinzendorf is described as "a noble, grand-looking 
person, with high foiehead, and blue eyes; manly in his 
bearing, and above the middle height in stature." Even 
up to the last, this servant of God did with his might 
whatsoever his hands found to do. He worked like a 
man who felt deeply impressed with the thought that he 
had much to do, and little time in which to do it. His 
biographer says that in the last year of his life, "he de- 
termined to seek the personal acquaintance of every mem- 
ber of the church, that he might ascertain the spiritual 
state of each one. This was a vast undertaking; and, 
considering the large number of inhabitants at Herrnhut, 
it might well have appeared a simple impossibility. 
But Zinzendorf, instead of recoiling before the difficulty, 
resolutely set to work, and in four months from that 
time, there was scarcely an individual in the colony that 
he had not conversed with privately, as he proposed." 

The ninth of May, 1760, was his last day on earth. 
Before closing his eyes in the sleep of death, he said : " I am 
going to the Saviour, I am ready. If he is no longer 
willing to make use of me here, I am ready to go to him." 

For several days, while he lay in his coffin, clothed in 
the white gown he was wont to wear in the discharge of 
his ministerial functions, groups of friends would gather 
and sing around his endeared remains, those hymns, 
with which he had so often led them in their songs of 
praise. 

His coffin was borne to the tomb by thirty-two preach- 
ers and missionaries, who happened to be in Herrnhut 
at the time. They w r ere men whom he had trained for 
the Lord's work; they had come from their field of labor 
in Holland, England, Ireland, North America, and 
Greenland. The funeral procession was composed of 
over two thousand individuals. Well may one ask, 
" What monarch was ever honored by a funeral like this? " 




c 




" Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs." Pg. 150 



IDEF^IFtTIMIIEilXrT 



OF 



fin |tnp§ lai fount j|$* 



c: 



" Lord, how delightful 'tis to see 
A whole assembly worship Thee ! 
At once they sing, at once they pray ; 
They hear of heaven and learn the way." 



Watts. 



w 



504 



Department of hymn singing. 




Churches Opposed to Singing. 

S the singing of God's praise is so often referred to in 
the Scriptures, and forms such a prominent and de- 
lightful part of the service of the sanctuary, it seems 
to us incredible that there should ever have been evan- 
gelical churches bitterly opposed to it. 

The following statements are taken from authentic and 
original documents, kindly furnished by Mr. Francis 
Jennings. 

The Second Baptist Church of Newport, Rhode Island, 
of which Rev. C. H. Malcolm is now the pastor, was 
constituted in 1656, when it is said they rejected singing 
as a part of religious service, and omitted it for over one 
hundred years. 

In 1765 singing was introduced. After very great 
agitation, numerous church meetings, and much op- 
position, permission w r as given to sing one hymn or 
psalm during service. 

Out of regard to tender consciences, those who could 
not endure the sound were allowed to remain out in the 
cold until it was concluded. A merciful permission! 
A generous provis'on! 

On the arrival of Rev. James Manning in Providence 
R. I. a part of the church withdrew with the pastor, Rev. 
Samuel Winsor, because the church introduced singing. 
Afterwards, in 1771, they formed a Baptist church, where 
singing was not tolerated. 

June 5th, 1771, according to Allen's Register , a divi- 
sion took place in the Baptist Church in New York city, 
because a part adopted singing. Those who seceded said, 
"Singing in public worship was an innovation which the 
withdrawing party never could tolerate. " 

It seems that the same spirit prevailed in England. 
The practice of singing in public worship was by no 



C 



Department of hymn singing. 



505 



c 



means general among the churches in 1689. So odious 
had been the pompous and theatrical music in the papal 
churches, that many Protestants went to the opposite ex- 
treme, and so dispensed with singing altogether, except 
after the Lord's supper. 

The church which grew into the one that Spurgeon is 
now pastor of was originally opposed to singing. It 
was known at the start as the Horselydown Baptist 
Church. While under the charge of Rev. Benjamin 
Keach, he published a treatise on singing in 1691, en- 
titled, " The Breach in God's Worship Repaired. " This 
led to much commotion. Those opposed to singing with- 
drew, and formed themselves into the church at Maze 
Pond, London, electing one of their number, Mr. Ed- 
ward Wallen, as pastor. 

For nearly forty years they omitted singing, except 
when partaking of the Lord's supper, until their pastor 
died. As they found it difficult to get another to suit 
them, they elected his son, Mr. Benjamin Wallen. But 
to their astonishment, he would only accept the call on 
condition that they would introduce singing. 

At length they yielded to this requirement, and, in 
1741, the meeting-house again became vocal with praise. 

Dr. Watts says of his day : " There are some churches 
that utterly disallow singing, and I am persuaded that 
the poor performance of it in the best societies, with the 
mistaken rules to which it is confined, is one great rea- 
son of their entire neglect. " 

Dr. Cuyler says : " God made us to sing as truly as he 
made us to smile and weep. 

"One thing is incontestable, 'and that is, that we shall 
sing in heaven. Even our beloved brethren, the Quak- 
ers, had better take a few lessons by way of rehearsal on 
this side of the pearly gates. " 



506 



Department of hymn singing. 




Singing in America two Centuries Ago. 

§HE first printing press in America was " put up " at 
Cambridge, in 1639/^by Stephen Day, and the first 
book printed upon it was " The Psalms in Metre, 
faithfully translated, for the use, edification, and comfort 
of the saints, in public and private, especially in New 
England, printed at Cambridge in 1640." 

The Pilgrim Fathers entered on their records, 
"Stephen Day, being the first that set up printing, is 
granted three hundred acres of land, where it may be 
convenient without prejudice to any town. " 

We give below a forest relic of these early days, com- 
posed by a converted savage, who spent his days in teach- 
ins: salvation to his tribe. 

1. In de dark wood, no Tnjin nigh, 
Den me look heben, send up cry 

Upon my knees so low. 
God hear poor Injin in de wood, 
Den me lub God and dat be good, 

Me heart, he tell me so. 

2. Den God, He say Poor Injun, come 
Me goin to take poor Injun home 

Where he may lib in Heben. 
Den Injun he wing up an fly, 
An tell de angels bove de sky 

Bow he hab been forgiben. 
3. When me be old, me head be gray, 
He neber lebe me, — so He say — 

He wid me till me die, 
Den take me up to shiny place ; 
See red man, white man, black man face 

All happy den on high. 

We give below a verse of one of the Psalms in the 
Indian tongue as printed for their use by Eliot in 1663. 

u Kesuk Kukootumushteaumoo 

God wussohsumoonk 
Mamahehekesuk wumahtuhkon 

Wutanakausnonk. " 




c 



1 



Department of hymn singing. 



507 



*Gf 



Q 



Old Style Hymnology. 

E give herewith some specimens of the hymns 
sung before the days of Watts and Wesley. 
They were " deaconed off and sung one line at 



a time. 



M 



" Tis like the precious ointment 
Down Aaron's beard did go ; 
Down Aaron's beard it downward went, 
His garment skirts unto. " 

In 1562 a version of the Psalms known as Sternhold 
and Hopkins', was issued, in which the 10th and 11th 
verses of the 74th Psalm are put into verse. 

The Psalmist says, " O God, how long shall the adver- 
sary reproach? Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even 
thy right hand ? pluck it out of thy bosom. " The poet 
renders it for singing thus ; — . 

"Why dost withdraw thy hand aback 
And hide it in thy lappe ? 
pluck it out and be not slack 
To give thy foes a rappe. " 

The Scripture language, " The race is not to the swift 
nor the battle to the strong, " was thus arranged for sing- 
ing, one says, " It contains truth, whatever may be said 
of its poetry, 

u The race is not forever got 
By him who fastest runs ; 
Nor the battle by those people 
Who shoot the longest guns." 

Of the following specimen, Dr. Belcher says, "though 
our readers may smile at it, their fathers did not," 

u Ye monsters of the bubbling deep, 
Your Maker's praises spout; 
Up from the sands, ye codlings, peep, 
And wag: vour tails about. " 




w 



508 



Department of hymn singing. 



Church Singing in Olden Times. 

E will give a few extracts from the early history of 
our country, that our readers may take a glance at 
the manner in which our forefathers sang their 
notes of praise. 

September 16, 1723. The New England Courant 
gave this item of news : " A council of churches was held 
at Baintree, to regulate disorders, occasioned by regular 
singing in that place, Mr. Nlles, the minister, having 
suspended seven or eight of the church, for persisting in 
singing by rule." The council declared the suspension 
unjust, and the church was "ordered to sing by note 
and by rule, alternately for the satisfaction of both parties." 

A choir in Massachusetts, having commenced singing 
without waiting for the Psalm to be lined out, the pastor 
waited till they were finished, when he gravely put on 
his spectacles, and said : u Now let the people of God 
sing," when the congregation joined with him in singing 
according to the old form. 

It is said of Dr. Joseph Bellamy, that after his choir 
had sung in sad style, he gave out another Psalm, 
saying: "You must try again; for it is impossible to 
preach after such singing. " 

The servant of the Rev. S. Moody, having led the 
singing one day, the dominie remarked at the close of 
the meeting: "John, you shall never set the Psalm again, 
for you are ready to burst with pride." 

But few tunes were known in those days, and the use 
of notes little understood, so that the melody was "tor- 
tured, and twisted as every unskillful throat saw fit." 
The Rev. Mr. Walker says, it sounded "like five hun- 
dred different tunes roared out at the same time, so hid- 
eously and disorderly as is bad beyond expression, I 
myself have twice in one note paused to take breath." 



J$) 



Department of hymn singing. 



511 




The Dearest Idol I have Known 



r 



/to HIS line is from Cowper's well known hymn, 

(2) " O for a closer walk with God. " 

A volume of illustrations could be made of the 
" dearest idol known" to those who make music in the 
christian sanctuary. 

While preaching in a country German church, not 
forty miles from Philadelphia, I was elevated above my 
fellow mortals by the old fashioned " wine glass pulpit. " 
Being thus brought on a level with the choir gallery I 
was enabled, from this high point of observation, to solve 
mysteries that my less privileged auditors below could 
not unravel. 

After giving out the second hymn, according to cus- 
tom, I lined it, but the music did not follow. The 
audience waited and wondered, but it was in vain. 
Many faces were now upturned to ascertain the cause, 
when lo! the leader had taken out his little black idol — 
not very " little " indeed for it was a big plug of tobacco, 
to which he had first to pay his respects, before he sent 
up his song of praise to the God of Heaven. 

Unfortuately, as he took a bite, he could not tear it 
off; so he had to pull, and pull, and pull, to the great 
consternation of his fellow singers; until at length he was 
rewarded for his devotion, by a mouth full larger than 
he anticipated, so that the music not having room to es- 
cape through the mouth had to get out with a " nasal 
twang, " that was not very " harmonious to our ear. " 

It was a sad comment of the poet's prayer, which was 
surely appropriate for him. 

" The dearest idol T have known. 
Whate'er that idol be, 
Help me to tear it from thy throne, 
And worship only thee. " 



1/ 



512 



Department of hymn singing. 



*^~ 



c 



Expressive Epitaph of a Chorister. 

CHOIR leader, familiarly known as "Stephen," 
had been accustomed to stand at a conspicuous posi- 
tion and beat time at full arms length. So much em- 
phasis did he seem to give to the music that many sup- 
posed that good church singing was dependent on the 
motion of that long arm. 

In the midst of his usefulness death succeeded at 
length in stopping this musical pendulum from swinging. 
On a plain marble slab at the head of his grave were 
placed the lines: — 

" Stephen and Time at length are even, 
Stephen beat Time and Time beat Stephen. " 



£ 



An Unexpected Coincidence. 



¥ CORRESPONDENT of The Cincinnatti Gazette is 
*eP responsible for the following: — 

" A clergyman in Pittsburg, Pa. married a lady 
with whom he received the substantial dowry of ten 
thousand dollars, and a fair prospect for more. Shortly 
afterward, while occupying the pulpit, he gave out the 
hymn, read the first four verses, and was proceeding to 
read the fifth, commencing, 

" ' Forever let my grateful heart,' 

when he hesitated, baulked and exclaimed: 'Ahem! the 
choir will omit the fifth verse,' and sat down. The 
congregation, attracted by his apparent confusion, read 
the verse for themselves, and smiled almost audibly as 
they read: 

u { Forever let ray grateful heart 
His boundless grace adore, 
Who gives ten thousand blessings now, 
And bids me hope for more.'" 




1 



Department of hymn singing. 



513 




c; 




A Hymn Illustrated by a Thunder-Storm. 

HILE George "Whitefield was 
delivering a sermon in Boston 
on the wonders of creation, 
providence and redemption, a 
terrific storm of thunder and 
lightning arose. Dr. Belcher 
says it " so alarmed the con- 
gregation that they sat in 
breathless awe. The preacher 
closed his note-book, and, step- 
ping into one of the wings of 

the desk, fell on his knees, and, with much feeling and 

fine taste, repeated from Dr. Watts : — 

" Hark ! the Eternal rends the sky ! 
A mighty voice before him goes, — 
A voice of music to his friends, 
But threatening thunder to his foes. 

" Come, children, to your Father's arms I 
Hide in the chambers of my grace 
Till the fierce storm is overblown 
And my revenging fury cease ! " 

Let us devotedly sing to the praise and glory of God 
this hymn : Old Hundred. ' 

"The whole congregation instantly rose and poured 
forth the sacred song. By the time the hymn was fin- 
ished, the storm was hushed, and the sun, bursting forth, 
showed the magnificent arch of peace. Resuming the 
desk, the preacher quoted, with admirable tact, 'Look 
upon the rainbow: praise him that made it. Very 
beautiful is it in the brightness thereof! It compasseth 
the heaven about with a glorious circle; and the hands 
of the Most High have bended it. ' The episode added 
intense interest to the service. " 








514 



Department of hymn singing. 



r 



Incidents of the Tune of Old Hundred. 



(to HE name given to the tune of "Old Hundred" is 
(a! derived from the hundreth Psalm, to which it was 
originally sung. 

It was composed by William Franc, for the Calvinistic 
Psalm-book in 1553, and afterwards " transferred by 
Ainsworth to his book compiled for the exiled Puritans 
in Holland, who, " at length, " brought it to America, 
where it has become the National Te Deum. " 

It was very much changed and improved by Luther, 
so much so, that some have supposed it was his compo- 
sition. 

Maria P. Woolridge, in the Ladies' Repository ; says: 
" A friend of the writer was not long since visiting a 
Catholic Cathedral, and innocently inquired why such a 
magnificent composition as Old Hundred was never sung 
by the Catholics. The priest's face contracted with a 
look of deadly hate, as he replied, "The heretic Luther 
wrote that, madam." 

"A remarkable incident is that of a Scottish youth, 
who learned from a pious mother to sing the old psalms, 
that were as household words to them in the kirk and 
by the fireside. When he grew up, he wandered away 
from his native country, was taken captive by the Turks, 
and made a slave in one of the Barbary states. But he 
never forgot the songs of Zion, although he sung them 
in a strange land and to heathen ears. One nisdit he 
was solacing himself in this manner, when the attention 
of some sailors on board of an English man-of-war was 
directed to the familiar tune of 'Old Hundred/ as it 
came floating over the moon-lit waves. At once they 
surmised the truth, that one of their countrymen was 
languishing away his life as a captive. Quickly arming 
themselves, they manned a boat, and lost no time in 



J 



17 



Department of hymn singing. 



515 



effecting his release. What a joy to him after eighteen 
long years passed in slavery ! Should not you think he 
would ever after love the glorious tune of " Old Hun- 
dred?" 

The following incident is related of Deacon Hunt, who 
was naturally a man of high temper, and often made it 
manifest in beating his oxen severely. When he became 
a new creature in Christ Jesus, his cattle seemed to be 
more docile. A friend inquired into the secret. " Why, " 
said the deacon, " formerly, when my oxen were a little 
contrary, I flew into a passion, and beat them unmerci- 
fully. This made the matter worse. Now, when they 
do not behave well, I go behind the load, sit down, and 
sing Old Hundred. I don't know how it is, but the 
psalm-tune has a surprising effect upon my oxen." 

Music does not always have such a soothing effect, as 
would appear from the following amusing incident: — 

A young man being surrounded in the parlor by a party 
of several friends was urgently besought to favor them 
with some singing. He replied that he would first tell 
them a story, and then if they still insisted on it, he would 
gratify their wishes. 

When a boy, he said, he took lessons in singing; and 
one Sunday morning went up into his father's garret to 
practice by himself. While under full headway, he was 
suddenly sent for by the old gentleman. 

"This is pretty conduct, " said the father, "pretty em- 
ployment for the son of pious parents, to be sawing boards 
in the garret on a Sunday morning, loud enough to be 
heard by all the neighbors. Sit down and take your 
book." 

We scarcely need add that, after this revelation of his 
musical powers, the young man was excused from sing- 




ing. 



C 



w 



516 



Department of hymn singing. 




C 



Hymns Disjointed by Fugue Tunes. 

#AD and often amusing have been the consequences of 
singing hymns in fugue style. The following verse 
of the one hundred and thirty-third Psalm, 

" True love is like that precious oil 
Which poured on Aaron's head, 
Ran down his beard, and o'er his robes 
Its costly moisture shed, " 

has been wedded to a tune of this kind. In order to 
get the " precious oil " to " run down his beard, " the 
following prodigious effort is made in the music : — 

" Ran down his beard and o'er his robes — 

Ran down his beard 

his robes, 

And o'er his robes — 

Ran down his beard — ran down his 

o'er his robes — 

His robes, his robes, ran down his beard, 

Ban down his 

o'er his robes 




Ran down his beard 



-h-i-s b-e-a-r-d 



Its costly moist- 



Ran down his beard 

ure — beard — his — beard — his — shed 

Ran down his beard — his — down his robes — 
— its costly moist — his beard — ure shed — 
his — cost — his robes — his robes — ure shed 
I-t-s c-o-s-t-l-y moist — ure s-h-e-d. " 

Bishop Seabury, being present at one time when a 
choir was going through this performance, he was asked 
what he thought of it. His reply was that "he had paid 
no attention to the music, in that his sympathies were 
so much excited for poor Aaron that he was afraid he 
would not have a hair left. " 

Some pastors have kindly furnished us, in our travels, 
with various other specimens, that we give herewith. 



1/ 



Department of hymn singing. 



517 



•Of 



c 



One related an instance where the tune required the 
first three words of a line to be repeated, so that when 
the words, 

" Send down salvation" 
occurred, the choir sang aloud : — 

" Send down sal 

Send down sal 

Send down sal " 

At another time, the tune sundered the line, 

"And take the poor pilgrim home," 

so that it was repeated thus : — 

"And take the poor pil 

And take the poor pil " 

Another hymn and tune thus " unequally yoked " to- 
gether, caused an unfortunate rupture in the words, 
" \nd chase the fleeting hour," 

so that the choir sang : — 

" And chase the flee • 

And chase the flee . " 



No less amusing was the following occurrence of the 
singing of a tune that disjointed the line, 

" 0, for a mansion in the skies, " 



so that it was sung :- 



" 0, for a man 

0, for a man 

0, for a man " 

The effect of a half dozen young ladies in the choir gal- 
lery singing aloud, 

" 0, for a man , " 

can be better imagined than described. 




518 



Department of hymn singing. 



The Massacre of Church Elusic. 

flff NDER this heading Rev. T. DeWitt Talraage gives 
^ the following description of an illustrative incident : — 
" The minister read the hymn beautifully. The or- 
gan began, and the choir sang, as near as I could under- 
stand, as follows : — 

" ' Oo — aw — gee — bah 
Ah — me — la — he 
— pah — sah— dah 
Wo— -haw— gee-e-e-e. ' 

"My wife, seated beside me, did not like the music. 
But I said: "What beautiful sentiment! My dear, it is 
a pastoral. You might have known that from i Wo-haw- 
gee ! ' You have had your taste ruined by attending the 
Brooklyn Tabernacle. 

" The choir repeated the last line of the hymn four times. 
Then the prima donna leaped on to the first line, and 
slipped, and fell on to the second, and that broke and 
let her through into the third. The other voices came 
in to pick her up and got into a grand wrangle. " 



GENTLEMAN from the country attended one of 
our city churches, where he found four persons em- 
ployed to do the singing for the congregation. 
The music was scientific, and the language of the hymn, 
he says, sounded as follows: — 

" Waw-kaw, swaw daw aw raw, 
Thaw saw thaw law aw waw ; 
Waw-kaw taw thaw raw vaw yaw braw 
Aw thaw raw-jaw saw aws. " 

Which, rendered into English, reads as follows: — 

"Welcome, sweet day of rest, 
That saw the Lord arise ; 
Welcome to this reviving breast 
And these rejoicing eyes. " 



r 



w 



Department of hymn sinying. 



519 



Choir Difficulties. 



CHOIR in a New England church took offence at a 
stranger who officiated in the absence of the pastor, 
because he had unwittingly disregarded some of 

their rules. 

After several vain attempts to induce them to sing, he 

gave out the verse: — 

"Let those refuse to sing 

^Yho never knew our God ; 
But children of the heavenly King 
May speak their joys abroad. " 

This it seems had the desired effect, for as the whole 
congregation joined in with the minister, the choir could 
not keep silent and admit that, like the heathen, they 
" — never knew our God. '' 



c 



T another time the common metre hymn 

" I love to steal a while away, " 
was announced. The chorister tried a tune, but 
when he got as far as 

" I love to steal, " 

found out that the metre would not suit. 

Then he tried another, but stuck when he got on as 
far again as 

" I love to steal. " 

Being well supplied with the grace of perseverance, lie 
resolved to " try, try again ; " but always unfortunately 
stopped after saying, 

" I love to steal, » 

When, with a smile, the pastor remarked, " It is very 
much to be regretted. Let us pray. " 

It is strange to add, that this little circumstance led 
to the dismission of the pastor. 



§* 



m 



520 



Department of hymn singing. 




C 



Solemn Mockery in Singing. 

HAT is more painful to behold than that wicked 
trifling that is sometimes shown by those who lead 
the singing in God's Sanctuary. Very many pas- 
tors speak of the bitter pangs experienced when compell- 
ed to see the irreverent conduct in the choir gallery. 

One remarked to me, that he had received so 
many "cold shocks" by witnessing the talking, laugh- 
ing, leaf-turning, and note writing of members of the 
choir, that to avoid a "chill," he had so trained his eyes 
that, when looking over the congregation in his sermon, 
he kept his singers out of sight. 

At one of our meetings a lady leader retired to the 
rear of the gallery, took two chairs, on the one she spread 
out her feet and leaned back on the other in true loafer's 
■style. She kept reading in what looked like a red cov- 
ered novel, till the close of the sermon, when she ad- 
vanced to the front, and led again the song of the Sanc- 
tuary. 

I was present at a funeral service, in which the whole 
audience seemed bathed in tears. 

The deceased was a mother in Israel, whose body was 
placed in front of the pulpit. The elevated position of 
the choir brought the pale face of death in view, and yet 
with these impressive surroundings, they could not sing 
the funeral hymns without their accustomed whispering, 
and " tittering. " While singing the solemn words, 

" Why do ye mourn departed friends, 
Or shake at death's alarm," 

they could even " shake " with laughter, as the organ 
plaved the interludes. 

If God consumed Nadab and Abihu for trifling in his 
presence, fearful to such will be the coming judgment 
day. 



M 



Department of hymn singing. 



521 



^tT 



Old Adam Manifested. 



" 'And are ye wretches yet alive, 
And do ye yet rebel ? ' " 




i v 

n) HE Rev. John Adams was ordained in 1748. Af- 
(§) ter preaching thirty years at Durham, N. H., some 
difficulties brought about his dismission. At the 
close of his farewell sermon, he asked his people to "sing 
to the praise of God, and to their own edification " the 
first three verses of the one hundred and twentieth psalm 
of Dr. Watts:— 

" Thou God of love thou ever blest, 
Pity my suffering state : 
When wilt thou set my soul at rest 
From lips which love deceit? " 

11 Hard lot of mine ! my days are cast 
Among the sons of strife, 
Whose never-ceasing brawlings waste 
My golden hours of life. 

" Oh, might I fly to change my place, 

How would I choose to dwell 
■ In some wild, lonesome wilderness, 

And leave these gates of hell ! " 



R. BELCHER also gives the following crook in 

one of the Lord's earthen vessels : — 
'" Not many years since, a minister in New Hampshire 
fell, as will sometimes happen, into a difficulty with his 
choir, which for some time prevented their accustomed 
services. At length the choir relented, and appeared, as 
heretofore, at the usual time of service. The minister 
most unexpectedly saw them in their places, and in due 
time, looking very significantly, rose and read the 
hymn, — 



z~r® 



522 



Department of hymn singing. 



c: 



A New Way to Blow the Organ. 

tN an Episcopal church the person who blew the bel- 
lows of the organ was also accustomed to attend to 

the furnance, and, finding it necessary to look after 
the fire, told a man, lately imported, to blow the bellows 
if it was required during his absence. Soon the Gloria 
in Excelsis came in the order of exercises, to be chanted, 
and Patrick was directed to furnish the organic element. 
After waiting some time for the instrument to respond to 
the touch, the lady performer whispered, " blow. 11 "Blow" 
repeated the leader. " Blow, " echoed the entire choir. 

An investigation now took place, when Patrick was 
found behind the organ with both hands tightly clinched 
around the bellows- handle, and he, with inflated cheeks 
and distended eyes, was trying his utmost to blow his 
own breath into the bellows so as to fill the instrument. 




A Big Tuning Fork. 

8)0 give a correct pitch to church tunes, musical pitch- 
^ forks were formerly much in use. When they were first 
introduced into the British realms, the precentor of 
Carnock parish ordered the Edinburgh Carrier to bring 
him one. As the carrier had never heard of any other pitch- 
fork but that used by the farmers, he purchased one that 
was about eight feet long. It was late on Saturday night 
when he came home, and, as a message had been left to 
bring it up when he came to church next day, he marched 
into the church yard before the bell rung, and, to the no 
little astonishment and amusement of the leader of song, 
who was standing amid a group of villagers, he exclaimed 
"Aweel, John, here's the pitchfork you wanted ; but I can 
tell you, I ne'er thought much o' your singing before, 
and I'm sair mistaken if ye'll sing ony better now!" 



.1/ 



Department of hymn singing. 



523 




C 




A Clergyman in a Fix. 

EARS ago, an aged minister 
was officiating for the first time 
in a Methodist church in Geor- 
gia, where' they kept up the old 
custom of having the hymns 
" lined, " that the whole congre- 
gation may, according to the 
wise discipline of that Church, 
join in the singing, whether they 
have hymn-books or not. The 
venerable man could not see dis- 
tinctly, and intended to omit 

singing during that service. To announce his purpose, 

he arose and said, 

" My eyes are dim : I cannot see " — 

and immediately the chorister commenced singing it to 
the tune of " Old Hundred. " Surprise and mortification 
made the clergyman almost speechless ; but he stammered 
out, 

" I meant but an apology. " 

This line was immediately sung by the congregation, 
and the minister, now quite excited, exclaimed, 

" Forbear, I pray ; my sight is dim '' — 

but the singing proceeded, and the couplet was finished 
by his beseeching explanation, 

" I do not mean to read a hymn. " 

Strange as it may seem, this was also sung with much 
energy, while the worthy old gentleman sat down in ac- 
tual despair of accomplishing his purpose to do without 
singing. 



52-1 



Department of hymn singing. 



*f 




Inappropriate Eymns. 



UEEB. thoughtlessness is some- 
times manifested in theannounc- 
ment of unsuitable hymns. 

On a bright Sabbath morning 
a pastor gave out, to a large 
and intelligent audience, the ex- 
pressive evening hymn com- 
posed by James Edmeston, in 
1820:—- 

u Saviour breathe an evening blessing, 
Ere repose our spirits seal." 



TIRING the preaching of a farewell sermon, the peo- 
ple were so melted down with emotion, that the 
speaker was scarcely able to proceed. Calling upon 

a ministerial brother to close the service, he announced 

the hymn, 

11 Jesus, ve lift our souls to thee ; 
Thy Holy Spirit breathe, 
And let this little infant be 
Baptised into thy death. " 

The effect may easily be imagined. 

jf N some churches, choirs are permitted to select their 
^p own voluntaries with which to close a service. 

At the funeral of a distinguished gentleman in Massa- 
chusetts, the singers sang of their own accord, 

"Believing we rejoice 
To see the curse remove. " 

Surely this sentiment could not have been very much in 
accord with the weeping friends of the departed. 



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W 



Department of hymn singing. 



525 




C 



On another funeral occasion, in the presence of the 
deceased body of one who had been noted for her irrita- 
bility and propensity to scold, the officiating clergyman 
gave out the hymn : — 



11 Sister, thou wast mild and lovely, 
Gentle as the summer breeze, 
Pleasant as the air of evening, 
When it floats among the trees." 



PRESBYTERIAN clergyman, who had been in his 
pastorate near a half century, in the State of New 
York, was called upon to preach the funeral cermon 
of one of his most devoted female members. On this 
occasion his tender feelings would now and then so over- 
come him, that he would pause in the midst of a sentence 
and repeat a part several times before he could control 
his emotions so as to complete it. 

In describing the prayerfulness of the deceased he was 
adapting the verse of the hymn, 

" I love to steal awhile away," 

when his feelings so overpowered him, that he had to stop 
after saying, "She loved to steal;" and after a tearful 
pause, that rendered it more emphatic, he said again, 
"She loved to steal;" and not till a third trial could he 
go on to say : — 

" She loved to steal awhile away, 
From every cumbering care, 
And spend the hours of closing day 
In humble, grateful prayer." 

A ministerial brother, a resident of the same place, in 
narrating to the author the above, said that his brother 
was an eye-witness of the scene, and of the many futile 
attempts to repress untimely laughter at each repetition 
of the assertion, " She loved to steal. " 



W 



526 



Department of hymn singing. 



(J)O give 
Cg) in the 
songs, 
To Saint 
Heavens, 
lowing : — 



Roman Catholic Hymns. 

an idea of what the young are taught to sing 
Papal communion, we append some of their 
from "The Catholic Youth's Hymn-Book." 
Mary, who is entitled, "The Queen of the 
Mistress of Earth," is addressed the fol- 




" These praises and prayers 
I lay at thy feet ! 
virgin of virgins ! 
Wary most sweet ! 
Be thou my true guide through this pilgrimage here, 
And stand by my side when death draw 0th near." 

Saint Joseph is honored with the following suppli- 
cation : — 

" father of Jesus ! be father to me, 
Sweet spouse of our Lady ! and 1 will love thee. " 

And thus again: — 

" There's no saint in heaven, Saint Joseph, like thee, 
Sweet spouse of our Lady 1 deign to love me. " 

Of purgatory, they sing as follows : — 

"The holy sacrifice of Mass 

Assists the souls in purgatory; 
Through this most holy sacrifice, 

God of mercy, hear their cry. 
May they receive eternal rest, 
And with the light of heaven be blest. " 

In the last verse of a hymn entitled, "The Church of 
the Saints:"— 

"Then we'll cling to the priest, and we'll cling to the Pope: 
We'll cling to Christ's vicar, for Christ is our hope; 
We'll fight a good battle, and Mary the while 
From her throne in the skies, on her children will smile. " 



G 



1/ 



Department of hymn singing. 



527 



C 



The Braying of an Ass Imitated in Church Song. 

fE V. DR. DOWLING, in his History of Romanism, 
while showing the midnight darkness of the dark ages, 
and the senseless superstition of the Roman Catholic 
Church during that period, refers, as an illustration, to 
a festival called, The Feast of the Ass. 

On the 14th of January it was celebrated at Beauv T ais 
and other places. 

A young lady, with an infant in her arms, was chosen 
to represent the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. 
Seated upon an ass, richly caparisoned, she was followed 
in procession by the bishop and clergy, from the cathedral 
to the church of St. Stephen, where she was placed near 
the altar, and then commenced the "high mass." The 
people, instead of the usual responses, were taught to 
imitate the braying of the ass, or to imitate the sounds 
hinham, hinham, hinham. 

The learned Edgar refers to the close of this religious 
mummury on this wise: "The worship concluded with a 
braying-match between the clergy and laity, in honor 
of the ass. The officiating priest turned to the people, 
and in a fine treble voice, and with great devotion, 
brayed three times like an ass, whose representative he was ; 
while the people, imitating his example in thanking God, 
brayed three times in concert. " We give one of the nine 
verses, sung with great vociferation in praise of the ass 
on this occasion: — 

" Gold, from Araby the blest, 
Seba myrrh, of myrrh the best, 
To the church this ass did bring; 
We his sturdy labors sing. 

Now, Signior Ass, a noble bray ; 
That beauteous mouth at large display, 
Abundant food our hay-lofts yield, 
And oats abundant load the field. " 




1/ 



528 



Department of hymn singing. 



*&ti 



C 




A Maniac Subdued by the Singing of a Hymn. 

HILE Mr. T. E. Perkins was 
sitting in the room of the How- 
ard Mission, New York, con- 
versing with Rev. Mr. Van 
Meter, they were interrupted by 
the entrance of a wild looking 
man, who exclaimed, "Is Awful 
Gardner here?" " No," replied 
Mr. Van Meter. "Then I am 
lost," said the man in accents 
of despair. " If awful Gardner 
was here lie could save me ; he 
would know how, because he's been the same road ; but 
now I am lost;" and drawing a bowie-knife from under 
his vest, he was about to plunge it into his bosom, when 
Mi. Van Meter sprang forward and caught his arm. 

Seeing that it would be useless to attempt to wrest the 
knife from his grasp, Mr. Van Meter sought to distract the 
man's attention from his suicidal purpose, but the unfor- 
tunate creature was seized with a fit of delirium tremens, 
and became unmanageable. 

Mr. Perkins, not knowing what else to do, sat down at 
the melodeon, and began to play and sing : — 

" Come, ye disconsolate, where'er ye languish ; 

Come to the mercy-seat, fervently kneel ; 
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish ; 
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal." 

The effect was magical. The man became sufficiently 
calm for Mr. Van Meter to march him up and down the 
room, while Mr. Perkins continued to play and 
After finishing " Come, ye disconsolate," lie sang : — 



sing. 




1 



Department of hymn singing. 



529 



"*f 



" Jesus, to thy dear arms I flee, 
I have no other hope but thee." 

The effect was still more marked. 
After singing that beautiful hymn Mr. Perkins com- 
menced : — 

" Flee as a bird to your mountain." 

As the strains of this exquisite composition filled the 
room, the maniac paused, sat down, covered his face with 
his hands, and sobbed like a child, or rather like a bro- 
ken-hearted, remorseful man. 

By this time Mrs. Van Meter, who was present when 
the man first burst into the room, came in with a bowl of 
strong coffee, which she had thoughtfully made, and 
as soon as the weeping stranger became sufficiently com- 
posed, she gave it to him. That quieted his nerves and 
renewed his strength, and in a little while he became com- 
pletely restored to the possession of his faculties. 

"Who is this man?" was the question which rose 
spontaneously to the lips of his deliverer, but all efforts 
to ascertain seemed to prove fruitless. He persistently 
refused to give his name, or to furnish any clue to his 
residence or identity. 

Mr. Perkins accompanied him to the St. Nicholas 
Hotel, where he took a room under an assumed name. 
As in his conversation he had chanced to mention a 
clergyman in Newport, R. I., whom Mr. Van Meter knew, 
the latter immediately wrote to the clergyman, stating the 
case. The clergyman came by the first boat, and at once 
recognized the unfortunate man, took him back again to 
his home in Hartford, where, before the period of his 
dissipation, he had been a man of wealth and responsi- 
bility. He threw off the thralldom of rum, and is nowa 
respected Christian man. 



c 



V 



530 



Department of hymn singing. 



^ 



C 



A Life Saved by Singing 1 . 

§HE editor of the "Musical Journal" narrates the 
following account, given him by a retired sea-captain, 
whom he describes as "a gentleman of high and 
honorable character, whose truthfulness we have no rea- 
son to doubt." 

Being at sea, the cook had the sad misfortune one day, 
on attempting to draw a bucket of water over the side 
of the ship, to lose his balance, and fall overboard. 

One of the sailors, who was addicted to stuttering, but 
who was a good singer, came running to the captain, who 
happened to be in the cabin, and cried out at the head 
of the stairs: "Captain, the co-co-co-co-co-co-." 

"What's the matter?" asked the captain, "sing it," 
when the sailor lustily struck up: — 




lf=3=B 



The cook is o - ver-board, buck-et and all ! 

upon which "the captain ran up on deck, caused the 
boat to be lowered, and thus saved the life of the poor 
'cook, bucket and all.'" 



MONG the relics of hymnology, of the days of the 
revolution, is the following, "issued in 1770, in the 
New England Psalm-Singer or American Chorister, 
by William Billings, a native of Boston, in New Eng- 
land:"— 

" 0, praise the Lord with one consent, 
And, in this grand design, 
Let Britain and the colonies 
Unanimously join." 

To which a historian adds: "This opened a new era for 
the history of psalmody in the colonies." 



Department of hymn singing. 



531 



Saved by the Attraction of Music- 

N old Inn keeper in England, who had often swore 
that he would never attend church, heard of the 
choice music, and of the crowds attracted by it, and 
so resolved, one Sabbath afternoon, to go and hear the 
singing, but not to hear one word of the sermon. 

The church was six miles distant, and as it was a hot 
summer day, and he a corpulent man, he came in with 
the sweat pouring down on every side, and with difficul- 
ty crowded into a narrow pew. 

He listened with rapt attention to the singing of the 
first hymns, but then leaned his elbows on the back of 
the next pew, and put his two fore-fingers in his ears, so 
as not to hear one word of the sermon that followed. 

He seemed well fortified from the darts of truth, until 
a little tricky fly came flying along, and lit on his red 
carbuncled nose, and stung it so that in self defence, he 
was compelled to take one of his hands to knock off the 
naughty fly, when to his surprise the words of the preach- 
er came ringing in the unstopped ear. " He that hath ears 
to hear, let him hear. " 

They sounded like a clap of thunder in the clear sky. 
He opened both ears, and was very much impressed by 
the words that followed. 

That day was the beginning of days to him : a change 
was produced upon him which could not but be noticed 
by all his former companions. He never from that day 
returned to any of his former practices, nor ever after- 
wards was he seen in liquor, nor heard to swear. He be- 
came truly serious, and for many years went, all weath- 
ers, six miles to church where he first received the knowl- 
edge of Divine things. 

After about eighteen years faithful and close walk with 
God, he died rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. 




r 



*%( 



532 Department of hymn singing. 



Solomon's Song. 

fRICH young gentleman in New York, hearing a 
minister, in a Fifth Avenue church, highly applaud 
Solomon's Song, thought it would make a nice pres- 
ent for one of his musical female friends. So calling at 
Messrs. Brown and Perkin's music store he inquired: 

" Have you Solomon's Song? I — aw — want to get a 
cawpy. " 

" NT-o-oo," thougthfully replied the senior member, 
"I th-ink not." 

" Aw!" said the young amateur drawing on his kid, 
" perhaps it isn't out yet. Our rector spoke of it last 
Sunday as a work of great genius and beauty, and I 
want Miss aw — a certain young lady to learn it. " 

§ME chorister of a choir in Vermont wrote to a pub- 
lisher in Boston for a copy of the popular singing 
book. " The Ancient Lyre. " His communication 
ran, " Please send me the Ancient Liar, well bound." 

The publisher replied: " My dear sir: — I do not doubt 
that the devil has been and still is in Boston, but it will 
be difficult to comply with your request, for the reason 
that Boston's influence is so strong in his favor, jt will 
be impossible to bind him. " 



T an evening service, Deacon H was reading 

the lines of Watts' hvmn: — 

u The fondness of a creature's love, 
How strong it strikes the sense ! '' 

when, his eye-sight being poor and his education no bet- 
ter, he brought out the two lines with a full voice as 
follows : — 

"The fatness of a critter's love, 

How strange it strikes the sense. " 



Department of hymn singing. 



533 



A Ruffian Charmed. 



URING the persecutions of Christians at Wexford, 

Ireland, by the Catholics, they met in a closed barn. 

"One violent opposer agreed to conceal himself in 

the barn before the worship began, that at a suitable time 

he might open the door to his comrades; and for that 

purpose he crept into a sack near the door. 

When the singing commenced, the Hibernian was so 
impressed with the music that he thought he would hear 
it through before he began the disturbance. The singing 
so much gratified him that he thought he would also hear 
the prayer ; and such was the effect of the prayer that he 
was seized with remorse and trembling, so that he roar- 
ed with fright, — which led the people to remove the sack, 
whereupon the Irishman was disclosed, praying with all 
his might as a penitent. Southey says, "This is the most 
comical case of instantaneous conversion that ever was re- 
corded : and yet the man is said to have been thoroughly 
converted. " 

Provoking a Smile. 

chorister in Connecticut finding the words of the 
ninety-second Psalm as arranged by Watts: — 

" Oh may my heart in tune be found 
Like David's harp of solemn sound ! " 

i not adapted to some new music, came to his pastor with 
this proposed change, 

" Oh may my heart be tuned within, 
Like David's sacred violin ! " 

Checking his "risibles, " the pastor proposed to change 

it to read thus : — 

" Oh may my heart go diddle, diddle, 
i.ike Uncle David's sacred fiddle!" 



The abashed critic meekly retired. 



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W 



Hymn books. 
List of Hymn Books. 



The 800 hymn-writers, referred to in this book, include the 
authors of nearly all the hymns contained in the following 
standard hymn-books: — 

The Presbyterian Hymnal, Joseph Duryea D. D. Pres. Board of Pub. 
The Church Hyxn Book, Edwin F. Hatfield D. D. 

Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor and Co, New York. 
Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Charles Robinson D. D. 

A. S. Barnes and Co. Ill William St, N. Y. 
Hymns and Songs of Praise, Rev. Drs. Hitchcock, Eddy, and Schaff. 

A. D F. Randolph and Co., New York. 
Baptist Hymn and Tune Book, Baptist Board of Publication, Philadelphia. 
Th2 Baptist Praise Book, Rev. Messrs. Fuller, Levy, Phelps, Fisk, etc. 

A. S. Barnes and Co., New York. 
Hymns for the Methodist E. Church. Nelson and Phillips, N. Y. 
The Voice of Praise. Rev. Messrs. Alex. Clark, McKeever, etc. 

James Robison, Pittsburg, Pa. 
The Service of Song, S. L. Caldwell and A. J. Gordon. 

Gould and Lincoln, Boston, Mass. 
Th3 Psalmist, Rev. Messrs. Baron Stow and S. F. Smith. 

Gould and Lincoln, Boston, Mass. 
Hymns of the Church, Rev. Dr. J. B. Thompson, A. G. Vermilye, etc. 

A. S. Barnes and Co, New York. 
Hymns for the Reformed Church in the U. S. 

Reformed Church Publication Board, Phila. 
The Book of Praise, Rev. Messrs. Eustis, Jr., Parker, Dana, Dunning, etc. 

Hamersley and Co., Hartford, Conn. 
The New Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book, Rev. Messrs Lowell Mason, Ed- 
ward A. Park, and Austin Phelps. 

Hamersley and Co., Hartford, Conn. 
Hymnal with Tunes of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 

A. S Barnes and Co., New York. 
Plymouth Collection, Rev. Henry Ward Beechcr. A. S Barnes and Co. 
Hymns for the Sanctuary, Rev. Messrs. Lanthurn, Sl.uey, Kumler, etc. 

United Brethren Pub. House, Dajton, 0. 
Church Book for the use of Evangelical Lutheran Congregations. 

Lutheran Book Store. Philadelphia. 
Book of Worship, General Synod of the Lutheran church. 

Lutheran Board of Publication. Phila. 
Evangelical Hymn Book, Evangelical Association, Cleveland, Ohio. 





tf jjpn Ififtrg. 



EXPLANATIONS. — The letter JY attaclied to the figures preceding a name refers to a note in 
the Appendix. (See page 552.) The asterisk (*) indicates a clergyman. Ch. Eng. stands for the 
< hurch of England. Cath. for Roman Catholic, ordinarily. Numbers in parentheses refer to the 
date of the hymn. "SVliile all the liymns are found in English, some are translations from tin 1 
languages in which they were first written. 



Page. 

X. 1 

29 
25 

N. 2 



40 
34 

N. 3 



NAME. 



Abelard, Peter 

Adam, S. Victor... 

Adams, John 

Adams, John Q... 

Adams, S. F 

Addiscott, H 

Addison, J 

Alber, Erasmus... 

Alberti, Henry 

Albertini, J. B 

A^bernus, J. G 

Alexander, C. F... 
Alexander, J. A... 
Alexander, W. L.. 
Alfred the Great... 

Alford, Henry 

Allen, James 

Allen, Oswald 

Allendorf, J. L. C. 
Altenberg, J. M.... 

Ambrose, St 

Anatoli us, St 

Anderson, G. W... 

Anderson, Mrs 

Andrew, St 

Angelus, S 

Anselm, St 

Anstice, Joseph... 
Apeiles. Mattn 



Eng.. 

Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U.S. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Ger.. 
Prus 
Ger .. 
Sax.. 
Ire.... 
U.S.. 
Scot. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Enjr. 



Ger... 
Prus ., 
Fran.. 
Turk. 
U.S... 
Fran.. 
Crete. 
Siles., 
Italy.. 
Eng.., 
Prus ., 



Birth.. .Death. 



1079. 



1751. 
1767. 
1S05. 
1806. 
1672. 



1604. 
1769. 
1624. 
1823. 
1809. 
1808. 

871. 
1810. 
1734. 
1816. 
1693. 
1583. 

340. 



.1142 

.1086 
.1835 
.1848 
.1849 
.1860 
.1719 
.1553 
.1668 
.1831 
.1679 



.1860 



, 900 
.1871 
.1804 



.1773 

.1640 
. 397 

, 458 



1816. 

1819. 

660. 

1624. 



Church. 



Cath 

Cath 

Bapt 

Unit'n.... 
Unit'n.... 

Cong 

Ch. Eng. 
Luth.*... 

Luth 

Mora 

Luth 

Ch. Eng. 

Pres* 

Cong* ... 

Cath. 

C. Eng* 
Meth.*... 



Ref* 

Luth 

Cath.*... 



1818. 
1594. 



. 731 
.1677 
,1086 
.1836 
.1648 



Bapt.*., 

Bapt 

Greek... 
Ref.*..., 
Cath.*.. 
C. Eng. 
Luth.... 



First Line of one op their Hvmns. 

He sends to the virgin. 
The church on earth, with 
Jesus is our great salvation. 
How swift, alas! our moments 
Nearer, my God, to thee. 
And is there, Lord, a cross for 
When all thy mercies, O my 
O children of your God, rejoice 
God, who made the earth and 
Long in the spirit-world my 
Not in anger smite us, Lord. 
The roseate hues of early dawn. 
There is a time we know not 
Spirit of power and truth and 
As the sun doth daily rise. 
Come, ye thankful people, come 
Sweet the moments, rich in 
To-day thy mercy calls me. 
Now rest my soul in Jesus' arm. 
Fear not, O little one, the foe. 

God of truth, O Lord of might. 

1 The day is past and over. 
Onward, herald of the Gospel. 

lOur country's voice is pleading. 

the mystery, passing wonder. 
Most high and holy Trinity. 

1 Jesus, solace of my soul. 

, In all things like "thy brethren. 
t O Christ, the leader of that war- 
535 



536 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



iV r . 4 



NAME. 



If. 5 

If. 6 
JV. 7 



-AT. 8 

If. 9 

iV. 10 

42 



259 
54 



56 

58 
N. 11 



iV. 12 



Aquinas, St. Thos, 
Arndt, Ernest M... 
Arnold, Gottfried.. 
Auber, Harriet.... 

Austin, John 

Aveliiiflf. T. W 



Bache, Mrs. S 

Bacon, Leonard... 
Bahnmaier, J. F.. 

Baker, H. W 

Bakewell, John... 
Baldwin, Thomas. 

Balfour, Alex 

Ball, William 

Balthaser, S. P.... 

Bancroft, J. H 

Bancroft, C. L 

Barbauld, A. L. ... 
Baring-Gould, S... 

Barlow, Joel 

Bartholomew, W.. 
Barton, Bernard... 
Bateman, C. H.... 
Bateman, Henry... 
Bathurst, W. H... 

Batty, Chris 

Baxter, Lydia 

Baxter, Richard... 

Beadon, H. W 

Beaumont, John... 
Bede, Venerable... 

Beddome, B 

Beecher, Charles.. 

Behemb, M 

Beman, N. S 

Benedictis, J. De. 

Bengel, J. A 

Bennett, Henry... 

Benson, R. W 

Bernard, St 

Bernard of Cluny. 
Berridge, John.... 
Bethune, Geo. W. 
Bianco da Siena... 
Biarowsky, W. E.. 
Bickersteth, Edw. 
Bickersteth, E. H. 
Bickersteth, John 

Bienemann, 

Bilby, Thomas 

Binney, Thomas... 

Birken, S... 

Birks. T. R 



Italy. 
Ger.. 
Ger.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 

Eng.. 
U.S.. 
Ger.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.., 
U.S.., 
Scot.. 
Eng... 
Ger.., 
U.S.., 

Ire 

Eng... 
Eng... 
U.S... 
Eng... 
Ensr... 



Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U.S.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 



Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U.S.. 
Ger.. 
U.S.. 
Umb. 
Ger.. 



Birth. ..Death. 



1227. ..1274 
1769. ..I860 
1666... 1714 
1773... 1862 

1669 

1815 



Eng.., 
Eng.., 
Fran., 
Eng.., 
U.S.., 
Italy. 
Ger.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Ger.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.., 
Bohe. 
Eng.. 



1744.. .1808 

1802 

1774... 1841 

1821 

1721. ..1819 
1753. ..1825 
1767. ..1829 
....(1864).... 
1657... 1742 
1819... 1844 



1744... 1825 



1757. ..1812 

1793 

1784... 1849 
1813(1848) 

1800 

1796 

1715. ..1797 
1809... 1874 
1615... 1691 



Church. 



Cath 

Luth 

Ref. 

Ch. Eng. 

Cath 

Cong.*... 

Unit'n... 
Cong.*.., 
Luth*.. 
C. Eng.- 
Meth.*.. 
Bapt.*.. 

Pres , 

Quaker., 
Ref. 



Ch. Eng, 
Unit'n... 



Pres. 



1810 
672 
1717. 
1819, 
1537. 
1786. 



. 735 

,.1795 



.1622 
.1871 

1306 

1687. ..1782 
1813. ..1868 
....(1861).... 

11150 

J1091...1153 
1716... 1793 

1 1805, ..1862 

1434 

1814 

1786. ..1850 

[1825 

1781. ..1855 
1540... 1591 

1794 

1798 

1626. ..1681 
1810 



Quaker. 



C. Eng. 
Meth.*. 

Bapt 

Pres.* .. 
C. Eng. 



Cath.*.. 
Bapt.*.. 
Cong.* . 
Luth* .. 

Pre? 

Cath 

Luth* .. 

c!*EngJ 

Cath.*.. 
Cath.*... 
C. Eng.- ; 
Ref*.... 

Cath 

Luth*... 
C. Eng.^ 
C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.-: 
Luth*... 



First Link op onk of thkir Hymns. 



Cong.* . 

Luth 

C. Eng. 



Now my tongue the mystery 
Go, and dig my grave to-day ! 
Well for him, who all things 
Our blest Redeemer, ere we 
Blest be thy love, dear Lord. 
Hail ! thou God of grace and 

" See how He loved ! " exclaimed 
Wake the song of jubilee. 
Spread, oh spread, thou mighty 
Oh ! what if we are Christ's 
Hail ! thou once despised Jesus ' 
Come, happy souls, adore the 
Go, messengers of peace and love 
Hallelujah ! praise to God 
If Thou, True Life, wilt in me 
Brother, though from yonder 
Oh for the robes of whiteness ! 
Praise to God, immortal praise 
Onward, Christian soldiers. 
Awake, my soul, to sound his 
Praise Jehovah, bow before him. 
Lamp of our feet ! whereby we 
Blessed Jesus, ere we part. 
Jesus ! Jesus ! come and save. 
Oh ! for a faith that will not 
Captain of thine enlisted host. 
There is a gate that stands ajar. 
Lord, it belongs not to my care 
All praise to thee, O Lord ! 
Many times since days of youth 
A hymn for martyrs, sweetly 
Did Christ o'er sinners weep. 
We are on our journey home. 
Lord Jesus Christ, my life, my 
Hark ! the judgment trumpet 
At the cross her station keeping. 
I'll think upon the woes. 
I have a home above. 
Praise to God who reigns above. 
Brief life is here our portion 
Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts 
Oh, happy saints who dwell in 
O Thou who in Jordan didst 
Come down, O Love Divine. 
Remember me. 

With thankful hearts our songs 
Father of heaven above 
Hast Thou, Holy Lord, Redeemer 
Come, O my soul, in sacred lays. 
Here we suffer grief and pain. 
Eternal light ! eternal light ! 
Wrote many hymns ; 2 tr. in Eng. 
Oh ! when from all the ends of 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



537 



iBlackall, C. R 

N. 13 Blacklock, T 

Blackie, J. S 

Blair, Robert 

Blew, W. J 

Bliss, Philip P.... 

Blunt, R. W 

Bode, J. E 

Boden, James 

Bogatzky, C. 11... 

Bohme, D 

Bohmer, J. H 

Bohnmaier, J 

66JBonar, H 

|Bonaventura, St... 
27. 14 Borthwick, J 

Bb'schenstein, J... 

Bourignon, A 

Bourne, H 

Bowdler, John 

JV. 15 Bowring, John.... 

Bracken bary ; R.C. 

Brady, Nicholas... 

Brooks, C. T 

Brewer, J 

Bridges, M 

Bronte, Anne 

Brown, J. N 

77 j Brown, Mrs. P. H. 
JV. 10 Browne, Simon.... 

Brown, William... 

Browne, Thos 

HT. 17 Bruce, M 

Bruhigk, II 

Brvant, J. H 

Bryant, W.C 

Bubier, G. B 

Buckoll, H.J 

Bulfinch, S. G 

Bullock, Win 

Buhner, A 

Buhner, J 

Bunting, W. M..., 

Biirde, S. G 

JV T . 18 Burder, G 

Burdsall, R 

Burgess, G 

Burleigh, W 

Burmeister, F 

Burnham, R 

Burns, J. D 

Burton, John 

Burton, John 

Butcher, E 



U.S.. 

Scot.. 
Scot.. 
Scot.. 
Eng.. 
U.S.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Prus . 
Prus . 
Ger.. 
Ger.. 
Scot.. 
Italy. 
Scot.. 
Ger.. 
Hoi... 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Ire.... 
U.S.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U.S.. 
U.S.. 
Ens;.. 



Eng.. 

Scot.. 

Ger.. 

U.S.. 

U.S.. 

Eng.. 

Eng.. 

U.S.. 

U.S.. 

Eng.. 

Eng.. 

Eng.. 

Prus 

Eng.. 

Eng.. 

U.S.. 

U.S.. 

Ger.. 

Eng.. 

Scot. 

Eng.. 

Eng.. 

Eng.. 



Birth. ..Death. Church. 



1830 

1721. ..1791 
1809 

KM). ..1746 

1808 

1838 

... (1841)... 

1816 

1757. ..1841 
1690. ..1774 
1605... 1657 
1674. ..1749 
1774. ..1841 

1808 

1221. ..1274 
...(1858)... 
1472... 1538 
1616... 16S0 
1772... 1852 
1783. ..1815 
1792. ..1872 
1752... 1818 
1659... 1726 

1813 

1752. ..1817 
...(I860)... 
1820... 1849 
1803. ..1868 
1783... 1861 
1680. ..1732 
...(1822)... 
1605. ..1682 
1746. ..1767 

1785 

1807 

1797 

1823 

...(1840)... 
1809... 1870 

1798 

1775. ..1837 
1784. ..1857 
1805. ..1866 
1753. ..1831 
1752. ..1832 
1735. ..1824 
1809. ..1866 
1812. ..1S71 

1688 

1749. ..1810 
1823. ..1864 
1773. ..1822 

1803 

1757. ..1822 



Bapt 

Pres. *.... 

Pres 

Pres.* ... 
C. Eng.* 

Cong 

Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng> 
Cong.*... 

Ref. 

Ret:* 

Re^* 



Pres.* .... 



Luth. 



Meth.*... 
Ch. Eng. 
Unit'n.... 
Meth.*... 
C. Eng.* 
Unit'n.*. 
Cong.*... 

Cath 

Ch. Eng. 

Bapt 

Cong 

Cong.*... 



Ch. Eng. 

Pres 

Morav.*. 



Unit'n.... 
Cong.*... 
C. Eng.* 
Unit'n.* 
C. Eng.* 

Meth 

Cong.*... 

Meth 

Luth 

Cong.*... 
Meth...... 

Epis."*.... 

Unit'n.... 

Ref 

Bapt.*.... 
Pres.* ... 

Bapt 

Cong 

Unit'n.*. 



First Link of one of their Hymns. 

Follow the paths of Jesus. 
Come, oh my soul in sacred lays 
Angels, holy, high and lowly. 
What though no flowers the fig- 
The day is past and gone, Great 
Almost persuaded, now to believe 
Jesus, thy blessed brow is torn 
All wandering on the blessed 
Ye dying sons of men. 
Awake, thou Spirit, who of old 
Lord, now let thy servant 

risen Lord, O conquering King. 
Spread, O spread, thou mighty 

1 lay my sins on Jesus. 

In the Lord's atoning grief. 
My Jesus, as thou wilt. 
When on the cross the Saviour 
Come, Saviour Jesus, from above 
O Saviour, welcome to my heart 
As panting in the sultry beam 
In the cross of Christ I glory. 
My son, know thou the Lord. 
}\ ith Tate wrote a version of Ps. 
God bless our native land.(tr.) 
Hail, sovereign Love, that first 
My God, accept my heart this day 
Oppressed with sin and woe 
Go, spirit of the sainted dead 
O Lord, thy work revive 
Come, Holy Spirit heavenly 
Welcome, sacred day of rest 
The night is come, like to the 
O happy is the man who hears. 
Thou source of my salvation 

Lord, our eyes have waited 
Deem not that they are blest alone 

1 would commune with thee, my 
Word of Him whose sovereign 
Hail to the Sabbath day. 

We love the place, O God 
Lord, if the vast creation 
Thou who hast in Zion laid 
My Sabbath suns may all have 
When the Lord wields the 
Come ye that know and fear the 
The voice of free grace. 
When forth from Egypt's 
Father, beneath thy sheltering 
Thou virgin soul, O thou 
Holy Spirit, now descend 
Still with thee, O my God. 
Time is winging us away. 
O thou that hearest prayer 
Hosannah ! let us join to sing 



538 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers, 



84 

jsr. 19 



90 
N. 20 



N. 21 
iV.22 

iv. 23 



TV. 24 
TV. 25 



iY r . 26 
02 



Eng. 

U.S. 

Byrom, J Eng. 



Butterworth, J. 
Byles, 



Calvin, John 

Cambridge, Ada- 
Cameron, ffm 

Campbell, Robert. 
Campbell, Thos... 
Canitz, F. R. L.... 
Carlyle, Jos. D.... 
Carpenter, Jos. E. 

Cary, Alice 

Cary, Phcebe 

Caswall, Edward.. 

Cawood, John 

Cecil, Richard 

Celano, Thomas... 

Cennick, John 

Chambers, J. D... 
Chandler, John... 
Chapin, Edwin H. 
Chapman, R. C... 
Charles, Mrs. E... 
Churton, Edward. 

Clark, Win. G 

Clarke, J. F 

Claudius, Matth... 

Clausnitzer, T 

Clayton, George... 

Cleaveland, B 

Clemens, A. St — 
Cobbin, Ingram... 
Codner, Elizabeth 
Coffin, Charles — 
Collins, Charles... 

Collins, Henry 

Collyer, Wra.B... 
Colver, Nathaniel 
Conder, Joan E... 
Conder, Josiah.... 
Cook, Russell S... 

Cooper, John 

Copeland, Win. J. 

Cosin, John 

Cosmas, S..T 

Cotterill, Thomas. 
Cotton, Nathan'l.. 
Coverdale, Myles. 

Cowper, Wm 

Coxe, Arthur C... 
Crabbe, George.... 
Crasselius, Barth. 
Crewdson, Jane... 



Switz. 
Eng... 
Scot... 
Sco< ... 
Scot... 
Ger... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
U.S... 
U.S... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Emr... 



Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
U.S... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
U.S... 
U.S... 
Ger ... 
Ger ... 
Eng... 
U.S... 

Egypt 

Eng... 

Eng... 

Fran.. 

U.S... 

Eng... 

Eng... 

U.S... 

Eng... 

Eng... 

U.S... 

Eng.. 

Eng... 

Eng... 

Syria . 

Eng... 

Eng... 

Eng... 

Eng... 

U.S... 

Eng... 

Prus.. 

Kill' 



Birth ...Death. 



...(1846)... 
1691. ..1763 



500. 
844. 
751. 



.1564 



654. 
759. 
813. 

820. 
824. 
814. 
775. 

748. 



.1811 

.1868 
.1844 
.1699 
.1804 



717. 



.1870 
.1871 

.1852 
.1810 
,1255 
.1755 



806. 
814, 
837. 



.1843 



.1815 
.1684 
.1862 



soy. 

810. 
810. 
743. 
619. 
783. 

717 

217 

777. ..1851 
..(I860)... 
676... 1749 

823 

(1852) 
7S2...1854 

70 1: 

796 

789... 1855 

814. ..1864 

(1810) 

(1848) 

594. ..1672 

760 

1823 
1788 
1569 
1800 



C. Eng.* 

Cong 

Ch. Eng. 

Pres.*.... 
Ch. Eng. 

Pres 

Cath 

Pres 

Luth 

C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 

Univ 

Univ 

Cath* .., 
C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 

Cath 

Morav. * 
Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng.* 
Univ.* ., 



Fihst Link of one of their Hymns. 



Ch. Eng. 
C. En?.* 



Unit'n*. 

Luth 

Luth.*... 
Cong.*... 
Bapt 



779. 
707. 
488. 
731. 

818 

754...is:52 
677.. .1724 
809... 1863 



Cong.*... 
Ch. Eng. 
Cath.*.... 
Pres.*.... 
Cath.*.... 
Cong.*... 

Bapt 

Cong 

Cong.*... 
Cong.*... 
iCh. Eng. 
C. En sr.* 
C. Eng.* 
Gr. Ch.* 
C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng* 
C. Eng .* 
Epis* ... 
C. Eng* 
Luth.*... 
Ch. Eng. 



Spirit of wisdom, guide thine 
When wild confusion wrecks the 
My spirit longs for thee. 

I greet thee, who my sure Redeem 
Humbly now, with dee]) contrition 
How bright these glorious spirits 
At the Lamb's high feast we sing. 
When Jordan hushed his waters 
Come, my soul, awake ! 'tis 
Lord, when we bow before thy 
Lord and Father of creation. 
I cannot plainly see the way. 
One sweetly solemn thought. 
Jesus, the very thought of thee. 
Hark ! what mean those holy 
Cease here longer to detain me? 
The day of wrath, that dreadful 
Children of the heavenly King. 
Let every heart exulting sing. 
Christ is our corner stone. 
Now, host with host assembling. 
My soul, amid this stormy world. 
A hymn of glory let us sing. 
God of grace, O let thy light. 
We have met in peace together. 
Hast thou wasted all thy powers ? 
The moon hath risen on high. 
Gracious Jesu ! in thy name. 
From yon delusive scene. 
Oh ! could I find from day to day. 
Shepherd of tender youth. 
If 'tis sweet to mingle where. 
Lord, I hear of showers of bless- 
Once more the solemn season 
Far beyond this world of sorrow. 
Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all 
Return, O wanderer, return. 
Weep for the lost, thy Saviour 
The hours of evening close. 
Bread of heaven, on thee we feed. 
Just as thou art, without One 
Father of heaven, whose love 
Jesus, the world's redeeming 
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls 
Christ is born, exalt his name. 
O'er the realms of pagan darkness 
Why, O my soul, O why 
O Holy Spirit our Comforter 
There is a fountain filled with 
We are living, we are dwelling. 
Pilgrim, burdened with thy sin. 
Awake, O man, and from thee 
I've found a joy in sorrow. 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers* 



539 



Page. 



122 



Croly, George 

Crosby, Mrs. F.J. 
Grossman, Sam'l.. 

Grosswell, Wm 

Creutziger, E 

Cruttenden, K. 

Cummins, J. J 

Cunningham, J. W 
Cutting, S. S 



364 

N. 27 



N. 21 



JV r . 30 
128 



^V. 30 



n. si 

150 



A. 32 



Dach, Simon 

Dale, Thomas 

Damiani, Peter.... 
Davies, Samuel.... 

Davis, Eliel 

Davis, Thomas 

Dayman, Edw. A. 
D'Aubigne,J.H.M 
Deacon, Samuel... 
Decius, Nicholas.. 
Deck, James G.... 
De Courcy, Rich'd 
De Fleury, Maria. 
De la M. Fouque, F. H. 
Denham, David... 
Denicke, David... 
Denny, Sir Edw... 

Dent, Caroline 

Dessler, Wolf C... 
Dickinson, Wm... 
Dickson, David.... 
Dillon, Wentw'th. 

Dix, Wm. C 

Doane, Geo. W.... 

Dobell, John 

Dober, Anna 

Doddridge, Philip 
Downton, Henry.. 

Dracup, John 

Drennan, Wm 

Drewes, John F... 
Drummond,\V. H. 

Dryden, John 

Duffield, George... 
Duncan, Mary L.. 

Dunn, P. P 

Dyer, Sidney 

Dwight, John S... 
Dwight, Timothy. 

Eastburn, J. W.... 

East, John 

Eber, Paul 

Ebert, Jacob 



Home. 



Ire... 
U.S. 

Eng. 
U.S. 
Ger . 
Eng. 
Eng. 
Eng. 
U.S. 



Ger... 

Eng... 
Italy.. 
U.S... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Switz. 
Eng... 
Ger ... 
Eng... 

Ire 

Eng... 
Ger ... 
Eng... 
Ger ... 

Ire 

Eng... 
Ger... 
Eng... 
Scot... 

Ire 

Eng... 
U.S... 
Eng... 
Ger .., 
Eng.., 
Eng.., 
Eng.., 

Ire 

Ger.., 

Ire 

Eng.., 
U.S.. 
Scot.. 



Birth.. .Death. Church. 



U.S... 
U.S... 
U.S... 

U.S.., 
Eng... 
Ger... 
Ger ... 



1780. ..I860 

1823 

1628. ..1683 
1804... 1854 

1558 

1690. ..1763 

1867 

1780. ..1861 
1816 



1605. ..1659 
1797... 1870 
988... 11)72 
1724.. .1761 
1803... 1849 

1810 

... (1868). .. 
1794. .. 187- 
1746... 1816 

1529 

1802 

1743. ..1803 
...(1791)... 
1777. ..1843 
1791... 1848 
1603. ..1680 

1796 

...(1855)... 
1660. ..1722 
1816. ..1868 
1583. ..1662 
1633... 1684 

1837 

1799... 1859 
1757. ..1840 
1713. ..1739 
1702. ..1751 

1818 

1795 

1754. ..1820 

1762 

1772. ..1856 
1632. ..1700 

1818 

1814. ..1840 
1825. ..1867 

1814 

1812 

1752. ..1817 

1798. ..1819 
... (1836)... 
1511. ..1569 



C. Eng.* 

Meth 

C. Eng.* 
Epis.* ... 

Luth 

Cong 

C. Eng... 
Ch. Eng. 
Bapt.*... 

Luth 

C. Eng* 
Cath.*.... 
Pres.*.... 
Bapt.*... 
C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.* 

Ref* 

Bapt.*..., 
Luth.*... 
Plym. B, 
C. Eng.* 

Bapt 

Ref. 

Bapt.*... 
Luth.*.., 
Plym. B 



Luth 

C. Eng.* 
Pres.*.... 

Epis 

Ch. Eng. 
Epis.* ... 

Cong 

Mora v.... 
Cong.* ... 
C. Eng.* 
Bapt.*.... 
Unit'n.... 

Ref* 

Pres.* .... 

Cath 

Pres.*.... 
Pres 



Bapt.*. 

Cong.* 
Cong.*, 



First Kink of one op their Hymns. 

Lift up your eyes, ye sons of 
Pass me not, O gentle Saviour. 
Jerusalem on high. 
Lord, lead the way the Saviour 
O Thou, of God the Father. 
Lord, didst thou die, but not for 
Shall hymns of grateful love? 
From Calvary a cry was heard. 
Father, we bless thy gentle care. 

Wouldst thou inherit life with 
When the spark of life is waning. 
For the fount of life eternal. 
Lord, I am thine, entirely thine. 
From every earthly pleasure. 
O Paradise eternal ! 
Who is this with garments dyed ? 
Jesus, I thy triumphs sing. 
To Jordan's stream the Saviour 
All glory be to God on high. 
Lord Jesus, are we one with thee ? 
Jesus, at thy command. 
Ye angels, who stand round the 
My Saviour, what thou didst of 
'Mid scenes of confusion and 
My God, I call upon thy name. 
Light of the lonely pilgrim's 
Jesus, Saviour ! Thou dost know. 
Jesus, whose glory's streaming 
Hallelujah ! who shall part ? 

Mother dear, Jerusalem. 

The last loud trumpet's wondrous 
As with gladness, men of old. 
Thou art the way, to thee alone. 
Now is the accepted time. 
Holy Lamb, who thee receive. 
Grace, 'tis a charming sound. 
For thy mercy and thy grace. 
Thanks to thy name, O Lord, 
The heaven of heavens cannot 
My God ; lo, here before thy face. 
Is this the feast for me? 
Creator Spirit ! by whose aid. 
Stand up ! stand up for Jesus. 
Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me. 
Jesus, Jesus, visit me. 
Go preach the blest salvation. 
God bless our native land ! (alt.) 

1 love thy kingdom, Lord. 



Epis O Holy, holy, holy Lord ! 

C. Eng.* j There is a fold whence none can 

Ger.* I In anger, Lord, rebuke me not. 

1549. ..1614'Luth.*... 'Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of 



540 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



N. 33 
156 



N. 34 
166 



N. 35 



NAME. 



Edeling, Chr. L. . 
Edmeston, James. 

Elliot, Hubert 

Elliott, Charlotte.. 
Elliott, Julia A.... 
Elven, Cornelius.. 
Enfield, William.. 
England, Sam'l S. 
Ephrein, Syrus.... 
Evans, James H... 
Evans, John M.... 
Evans, Jonathan.. 

Faber, Fred. W.... 

Fanch, James 

Fawcett, John 

Fellows, John 

Feneberg, J. M.... 
Fitch, Eleazer T... 
Flemming, Paul... 
Fletcher, Samuel.. 

Flittner, John 

Flowerdew, Alice. 

Follen, E. L 

Ford, Charles L... 

Ford, David E 

Ford, James 

Fortunatus, V. H. C. . 

Fbrtzsch, Basil 

Fountain, John.... 
Fouque, £>e la M.. 

Francis, Benj 

Frank, John 

Frank, Solomon... 
Franke, Aug. H... 
Freudentheil, \V. N. . 
Freylinghausen, J. A. 
Freystein, J. B.... 
Frothingham,N.L 
F ugger, Casper. . . . 

Fulbert, St 

Furness, Wm 



Home. Birth... .Death. 



Ger... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Turk.. 
Eng... 
U. S... 
Eng... 

Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Ger... 



Ger . 
Eng. 
Ger . 
Eng. 
U.S. 
Eng. 



Gabb, James 

Gadsby, William.. 
Gambold, John.... 
Gandy, Satn'i W.. 

Ganse, H. D 

Garve, Charles B. 
Gascoigne, Geo.... 
Gaskell, Mrs.E.C. 
Gates, Mrs. E. H.. 

Gauldett, T. H 

Gellert, Chr. F 



Eng... 
Italy.. 
Ger.... 
Eng... 
Ger.... 
Wales 
Ger.... 
Ger.... 
Ger.... 
Ger.... 
Ger.... 
Ger.... 
U.S... 
Ger.... 
Fran.. 
U.S... 

Eng... 

Eng... 

Wales 

Eng.. 

Ger... 

Ger... 

Eng.. 

U.S.. 

U.S.. 

U.S.. 

Ger... 



1751. ..1812 
1791. ..1867 

17S8 

1789. ..1871 

1841 

1797 

1741. ..1797 

1810 

381 

1785. ..1849 

1825 

1749. ..1809 



1815. 
1704. 
1739. 



1751. 
1790. 
1606. 
1785. 
1618. 
1759. 
1787 



,.1863 
.1767 
.1817 
.1785 
.1812 
.1871 
.1640 
.1863 
.1678 
.1830 



(1828). 



550... 609 

1619 

1723. ..1800 
1777. ..1843 
1734... 1799 
1618... 1677 
1659. ..1725 



1663. 
1771. 



,1727 
,1853 



1670... 1739 
1720 



1793. 



1617 
1029 



1802. 



...(1854)... 
1773... 1844 

1771 

1858 

1822 

1763... 1841 

1577 

1810... 1865 

1863 

1807... 1851 
1715. ..1769 



Church. 



Luth.*... 

Ch. Eng. 
Cong.* ... 
Ch. Eng. 
Ch. Eng. 
Bapt.*... 
Unit'n*. 
Cong*' . . . 



Bapt. 
Bapt. 
Cong, 



Oath*. 
Bapt.*. 
Bapt.*. 
Bapt... 
Cath*. 



Luth 

Cong 

Luth.*... 

Bapt 

Unit'n.... 
Ch. Eng. 



Ch. Eng, 
Cath.*..., 
Luth.*... 
Bapt.*... 

Ref 

Bapt.*..., 

Luth , 

Luth 

Luth.*.., 
Luth.*.., 
Luth.*.., 

Luth 

Unit'n.*, 
Luth.*... 



Unit'n* 

C. Eng.* 
Bapt.*.... 
Moray.*. 

C. Eng.* 



Mora v.*. 
Ch. Eng. 



Epis , 
Luth. 



First Link of one op their Hymns. 

My Saviour, make me cleave to 
Saviour ! breathe an evening 
Prepare me, gracious God. 
Just as I am, without one plea. 
Great Creator, who this day. 
With broken heart and contrite 
Behold where in a mortal form. 
In anger, Lord, rebuke me not. 
To thee, O Lord, loud praise 
Faint not, Christian, though the 
Amid the joyous scenes of earth. 
Hark ! the voice of love and 

Sweet Saviour, bless us ere we go. 
Beyond the glittering starry 
Blest be the tie that binds." 
Jesus, mighty king in Zion. 
The moon hath risen on high. 
Lord, at this closing hour. 
Where'er I go, whate'er my task. 
Father of life and light. 
What shall I, a sinner, do ? 
Fountain of mercy, God of love. 
How sweet upon the Sabbath 
Earthly joys no longer please us. 
How vain is all beneath the skies. 
Awake, my soul, awake to pray. 
The God, whom earth and sky 
O Christ, thou bright and morn 
Sinners, you are now addressed. 
My Saviour, what thou didst of 
My gracious Redeemer I love. 
Let who will in thee rejoice. 
Best of the weary, Thou ! 
What within me and without. 
The Father knows thee. 
Pure essence ! Spotless Fount of 
Rise my soul, to watch and pray, 
Our Christ has reached his 
We Christians may rejoice to-day 
Ye choirs of new Jerusalem. 
Feeble, helpless, how shall I. 

Jesus, thou wast once a child. 
Holy Ghost, we look to thee. 

tell me no more. 

His be the victor's name. 
Thou, who like the wind dost 
Thy Word, O Lord, like gentle 
We that have passed in slumbers 
Mighty God, the First, the Last. 

1 will sing you a song. 
Jesus, in sickness and in pain. 
Jesus lives no longer now. 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



541 



172 Gerhardt, Paul.... 

Gesenius, Justus... 

Geste, Guillaume.. 
iV. 36 Gibbous, Thomas. 

Gilbert, Ann 

Giles, Charles 

Giles, John E 

Gill, Thomas H.... 
JY. 37 Gilmore, J. H 

Gisborne, Thos 

Good, John M 

JV. 38 Goode, William.... 

Gotter, Louis A.... 

Gough, Benjamin. 

Gould, Hannah F. 

Gould, Sabine B... 

Gramlich, J. A 

Granade, John A.. 

Grant, James 

JV. 3J Grant, Robert 

Graumann, John.. 

Gray, Jane L 

Greding, John E.. 

Greene, Thomas... 

Gregor, Christ'n... 

Gregory the Great 

Greville, R. K 

180 Grigg, Joseph 

Groser, William... 

Griinbeck, JEsther 

Guest, Benjamin.. 

Guiet, Charles 

Gunn, H. Mayo.... 

Giinther, C 

Gurney, A. T 

Gurney, John H... 

Gurney, Joseph J. 

Guyon, Madame... 



Ger.. 
Ger... 
Fran. 
Eng.. 
Enjr.. 



184 

A r . 40 
JV.41 

190 



196 

JV.42 



Hall, Mrs. E. M... 
Hall, C. Newman. 
Hamilton, R. W... 
Hammond, Win... 

Hankey, Kate 

Harbaugh, Henry 
Harbottle, Joseph 

Hardenberg, F 

Harland, Edward. 
Harmer, Sam'l Y. 

Hartsough, L 

Harris, John 

Harrison, Susan... 

Hart, Joseph. 

Hastings, Thomas 



Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U.S.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.., 
Eng.., 
Ger.... 
Eng.., 
U. S.., 



Ger... 
U. S.., 
Scot.. 
Scot.., 
Ger.... 
En°,... 
Ger.... 
Eng... 
Ger.... 
Italy.. 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Ger.... 
Eng... 
Fran.. 
Eng... 
Ger.... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Fran.. 

IT. S... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
U. S... 
Eng... 
Ger.... 
Ens.., 



U.S. 
Eng. 
Eng. 
Eng. 

U.S. 



Birth. ..Death. 



1606.., 

1601.., 

1720*."! 

1782... 
1783... 
1805.. 
1819.. 
....(187 
1758... 
1764... 
1762... 
1661... 
1805... 



1676 
1671 
1702 
1785 
1866 
1867 



0).... 
1846 
1827 
1816 
1735 



Luth.- 
Luth/ 
Cath.* 
Cong. : 
Cons* 



1834 
1689. 
1763. 

1785'! 
1487. 
1796. 
1676. 
1753 
1723. 
550. 
1794. 
1728. 
1791. 
1717. 
1790. 

1818. 
1649. 
1820. 
1802. 
1788. 
1648. 



.1728 
.1807 
.1785 
,1838 
,1541 
.1871 
1748 



,1801 
604 
,1866 
1768 
,1856 



,1869 
,1684 



.1704 



,1862 
.1747 
1717 



....(1870).... 

1816 

1794. ..1848 

1783 

....(1865).... 
1818. ..1867 
1798. ..1864 
1772. ..1801 

1809 

1809 

18— ...1872 
1802... 1856 
1757... 1784 
1712. ..1768 
1784.. .1872 



Bapt.*.... 
Ch. Eng. 
Bapt. *.... 
Ch. Eng. 



C. Eng. 
Luth..., 
Meth.... 



Luth*.... 
Meth.* ... 

Pres 

Ch. Eng. 
Luth* .... 

Pres 

Luth.*... 

Cong 

Mora v.... 
Cath.*.... 
Ch. Eng. 
Pres.*.... 
Bapt.*.... 
Morav.... 
C. Eng.* 

Cath 

Cong.* ... 

Luth 

C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.* 
Quak.*... 
Cath 



First Line of one of their Hymns. 



Cong.* .., 
Cong.* ... 
Morav.*. 



Ref.*..., 
Bapt...., 
Morav.. 
C. Eng. 



Meth.*. 
Cong.*. 
Cong.... 
Cong.* , 
Pres 



Commit thou all thy griefs. 
When sorrow and remorse. 
The Shepherd now was smitten. 
Great God, is not thy promise ? 
Hark ! the sounds of joy and 
This world is poor from shore to 
Hast thou said, exalted Jesus ? 
Holy, delightful day ! 
He leadeth me, O blessed thought 
A soldier's course from battles. 
Not worlds on worlds in phalanx 
Praise ye Jehovah's name. 
O Cross, we hail thy bitter reign. 
Blessed are the dead who die 
O thou, who hast spread out the 
Onward, Christian soldiers. 
\\ T hen the last agony draws nigh. 
Sweet rivers of redeeming love. 
O Zion, afflicted with wave upon 
When gathering clouds around 
My soul, now praise thy Maker. 
Hark to the solemn bell ! 
Him on yonder cross I love. 
It is the Lord enthroned in light. 
Man of sorrows and acquainted 
O Christ, our King, Creator, 
O God, from thee alone. 
Jesus, and shall it ever be ? 
Praise the Redeemer, almighty 
Grace, grace, oh ! that's a joyful 
Heavenly Father, may thy love. 

Word of God above. 

To realms beyond the sounding 
With joyful heart your praises 
Come, ye lofty, come, ye lowly. 
Lord, as to thy dear cross we flee. 
Let deepest silence all around. 

1 would love thee, God and Fath 

I hear the voice of Jesus say, 
Hallelujah ! joyful raise. 
Though poor in lot and scorned 
Awake and sing the song. 
I love to tell the story. 
Jesus, I live to thee. 
See how the fruitless fig-tree. 
What had I been, if thou wert not 
Lord, when earthly comforts flee 
In the Christian's home in glory. 
I hear thy welcome voice. 
Light up this house with glory, 
I languish for a sight. 
Come, ye sinners, poor and 
To-day the Saviour calls, (alt.) 



542 



Synojisis of Hymn Writers. 



Page. 


NAME. 


Home. 


Birth... Death. 


Church. 1 




Hatfield, Edw. F.. 


u. s... 


1807 Pres.*.... 


201 


Havergal, W. II... 


Eng... 


1793... 1870 C. Eng.* 


200 


Havenral E. R.... 






Ch. Eng. J 
C. Eng.* 


jr. 43 


Haweis, Thomas... 


Eng... 


1732... 1820 




Hawks, Mrs.A.S. 


u. s... 


1835 






Hawkins, Ernest.. 


Eng... 


1802. ..1868 


C. Eng.* 




Hawksworth, J.... 


Eng... 


1715. ..1773 


Ch. Eng. 




Hayn, Henriet. L. 


Ger ... 


1724. ..1782 


Morav.... 


205 


Heber, Reginald... 


Eng... 


1783. ..1826 


C. Eng* 




Heermann, John.. 


Ger... 


1585... 1647 


Luth*.... 




Heginbothara, 0... 


Eng... 


1744... 1768 


Cong.* ... 






Ger... 


1643 


Luth 




Hehnbold, Lewis.. 


Ger... 


1532. ..1598 


Luth* ... 




Hemans, Felicia D 


Wales 


1794. ..1835 


Ch. Eng. 




Hensel, Louisa 


Ger.... 


1798 


Cath 






Pol.... 


1562. ..1627 


Luth 




Herbert, Daniel.... 


Eng... 


1751. ..1833 


Cong.*... 




Herbert, George... 


Eng... 


1593. ..1632 


C. Eng.* 






Ger.... 


1561 


Luth 






Ger.... 


1707. ..1791 


Luth .*... 




Herrick, Robert.. 


Eng... 
Eng... 


1591 


C. Eng.* 






1714... 1758 


C. Eng.* 




Herzog, John F... 


Ger.... 


1647. ..1699 


Luth 




Hesse, John 


Ger.... 
Ger.... 

Switz. 
Eng... 


1490... 1547 
1623 


Luth.*... 

Luth ., 
Ref ! 
C. Eng.*| 




Hessenthaler, M... 

Heusser, Meta 

Hewett, John W.. 




1797 




....(1859).... 






Ger.... 


1789. ..1S54 


Luth.*...j 




Hildegarde, St 


Ger.... 


1098. ..1179 


Cath 




Hildebert, Bish.... 


Fran.. 


1133 


Cath.*....l 


212 




Eng... 


1744. ..1833 


Ind.* ] 




Hill, L. S 


U. S... 


1806 


Bapt 

Luth 




Hiller, Fred. C.... 


Ger.... 


1662... 1726 




Hiller, Ph. F 


Ger.... 


1699. ..1769 


Luth.*... 




Hillhouse, A. L..„ 


U. S... 
Eng... 


1792. ..1859 
1793. .. 18— 






C. Eng*, 






Eng... 


1791. ..1872 


Bapt.*.... 




Hb'fel, John 


Ger.... 
Ger.... 


1600. ..1683 
1658. ..1712 


Luth . . , 
Luth.*... 




Hoffmann, G 






Scot... 


1773. ..1835 








Ger.... 


....(1560).... 


Luth 




Holmes, O. W 
Homburg, E. C 


U. S... 
Ger.... 


1809 


Unit'n... 
Luth 




1605... 1681 






Ire 


1809. ..1872 


Pres 




Hopkins, John 


Eng... 


....(1551).... 


C. Eng * 




Hopkins, Josiah... 




1786. ..1862 










1818 








Eng... 


1730... 1792 


C. Eng.* 




Hoskins, Joseph... 


Eng... 


1745. ..1788 


Cong.*... 




How, Win. T 


Eng... 


1823(1854) 


C. Eng.* 




Hull. Amelia M... 
Humphreys, Jos... 


Scot...- 
Eng... 


1795 










Eng... 
U. S... 


1720 


C. Eng* 

Meth.*... 




1811(1842) 



First Line op one of their Hymns. 

My Shepherd's name is love. 
Hosannah ! raise the pealing 
I gave my life for thee. 
From the cross uplifted high. 
I need thee every hour 
Lord, a Saviour's love displaying 
In sleep's serene oblivion laid. 
Seeing I am Jesus' lamb. 
From Greenland's icy mountains. 
Thou weepest o'er Jerusalem 
God of our life, thy various praise 
Let the earth now praise the 
From God shall nought divide 
The Saviour knelt and prayed 
Ever would I fain be reading. 
Farewell ! I gladly bid thee 
Come, dear Lord, thyself reveal 
Teach me, my God and King. 
Mine hour appointed is at hand 
On wings of faith, ye thoughts, 
In the hour of ray distress 
Since all the downward tracts 
Now that the sun doth shine no 
O world, I now must leave thee 
True Shepherd, who in love 
Long hast thou wept and sorrow 
In the name of God the Father 
Whene'er thou sinkest 
O Fire of God, the Comforter 
O pious Paraclete 
Ye that in his courts are found 
When floating on life's troubled 
O Jerusalem, the golden 
My God, to thee I now commend 
Trembling before thine awful 
Lord, shall thy children come 
Once I was estranged from God 
O sweetest words 
Depart, my child, 
O thou that dwellest in the heav 
Ah God, my days are dark 
Lord of all being, throned afar. 
Of my life the Life, O Jesus 
Now I have found a friend 
Edited a book of Psalms in 1551. 
Oh turn ye, Oh turn ye, for why 
Wrecked and struggling in mid 
See the leaves around us falling 
The time is short 
Jesus, Name of wondrous love. 
O ye with silent tear. 
There is life for a look at the 
Blessed are the sons of God 
My heavenly home is bright and 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



543 



220 



233 



234 



240 



NAMK. 

Huntingdon, Lady 
Huntington, F. I). 

Hupton, Job 

Hum, William 

Ilutton, James 

Huss, John 

Hyde, Mrs. A. B.. 

Ide, George B 

Ingemann, B. S..'.. 

Irons, Joseph 

Irons, Wm. J 

Jacobi, John C 

Jacobus, de Bene.. 

James, R. S 

Jervis, Thomas 

Jesse, Henry 

John, St. D 

Johns, Henry D... 
Johnson, Samuel.. 
Jones, Edmund.... 

Joseph, St 

Josephson, Lewis. 
Jowett, William... 

Joyce, James 

Judkin, Thos. J... 
Judson, Adonir.... 
Judson, Sarah B.. 
Jukes, Richard.... 



244 



291 



Keble, John .*» 

Keith, George 

243, Kelly, Thomas 

Kempenlelt, It 

Kempf, John 

Kempthorn, J 

Ken, Thomas 

Kennedy, B. Hall 

Kent, John 

Kenyon, A 

Kern, Chris. G 

Kethe, William.... 
Key, Francis S.... 
Keymann, Chris... 
Kidder, Mrs. M. A 

Kill, Tobiah 

Killinghall, John 

King, Joshua 

Kingo, Bishop 

Kingsbury, Wm... 

Kingsbury, H 

Kippis, Andrew... 
iKlopstock, F. G... 



Eng... 
U. S... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Austr. 
U. S... 



U. S... 
Den... 
Eng... 
Eng... 

Eng... 

Italy.. 

LT. S... 

Eng... 

Eng... 

Syr.... 

U. S... 

IT. S... 

Eng... 

Gree .. 

Ger.... 

Eng... 

Eng.. 

Eng... 

Burm 

U. S... 

Ensr... 



Birth... Death. 



Eng. 
Eng. 
Ire... 
Eng. 
Ger.. 
Eng. 
Eng. 
Eng. 
Eng. 
U.S. 
Ger.. 
Eng. 
US.. 
Ger.. 
U.S. 
Ger.. 
Eng. 
Eng. 
Den. 
Eng. 
U.S. 
Eng., 
Ger.. 



1707. ..1791 

1819 

1762. ..1849 
1754... 1829 
1715. ..1795 
1373. ..1415 
1872 



1805. ..1872 
1789.. .1862 
1785. ..1852 
1812(1848) 

....(1722).... 

1306 

1824 

1748. ..1833 
1601. ..1663 

780 

....(1865).... 
1822(1846) 
1722. ..1765 
...9th cent.. 

1809 

....(1806).... 
1781. ..1850 
....(1837).... 
1788. ..1850 
1803... 1845 



1792... 1866 
17— ...17— 

1769. ..1855 
1718. ..1782 
1604... 1625 
1775. ..1838 
1637. ..1711 

1804 

1766. ..1843 

18— 

1792. ..1835 

1561 

1779.. .1843 
1607. ..1656 

1825 

1584. ..1627 

1740 

....(1840).... 



1744. ..1818 
18— (1850) 
1725... 1795 
1724.. .1803 



Church. 



Ch. Eng. 
Epis.*.... 
Bapt.*.... 
Cong.* ... 
Moray.... 

Ref* 

Cong 



Bapt.*.. 
Luth.... 
Cong.*. 
C. Eng. 



Luth 

Cath 

Bapt.*.. 
Unit'n**. 
Bapt.*... 
Greek.-. 



Unit'n* 

Bapt.*.. 



Ref*. 



C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 
Bapt.*... 

Bapt 

Meth 



C. Eng.* 

Bapt 

Indep.*.. 
Ch. Eng. 
Luth.*... 
C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.* 

Cong 

Bapt.*... 
Luth.*... 
C. Eng.* 

Epis 

Luth.*... 

Meth 

Luth.*... 
Cong.*... 



Luth.*... 
Cong.*... 
Pres.*.... 
Unit'n*.. 
Luth 



First Line of one op their Hymns. 



When thou, my righteous Judge, 
Come, sinner, to the gospel feast. 
Come, ye saints, and raise an 
Angels rejoiced and sweetly 
teach us more of thy blest ways 
Jesus Christ, our true salvation. 
And canst thou, sinner, slight. 

Son of God, our glorious head 
Through the night of doubt and 
Plead my cause, O Lord of hosts. 
Day of wrath, O day of mourning 

Holy Ghost ! dispel our darkness 
At the cross her station keeping. 
Hastening on to death's dark 
With joy we lift our eyes. 
Unclean ! unclean and full of 
'Tis the day of resurrection 
Come, Kingdom of our God. 
Father ! in thy mysterious pres- 
Come, humble sinner, in whose 
Jesus, Lord of life eternal 
Now darkness over all is spread 
While conscious sinners tremble 
Disowned of heaven, by man 
Enthroned is Jesus now. 
Our Father God, who art in 
Proclaim the lofty praise 
What is this that steals upon my 

Sun of my soul, thou Saviour 
How firm a foundation, ye saints 
Hark, ten thousand harps and 
Burst, ye emerald gates ! and 
When in the pains of death my 
Praise the Lord, ye heavens. 
Praise God, from whom all 
Come, Lord Jesus, take thy rest. 
Where two or three together 
Go, work while you may. 
Oh how could I forget Him ! 
All people, that on earth do 
Lord, with glowing heart I praise 
Jesus, will I never leave. 
Look on me, Saviour mine. 
Lord God, now open wide thy 
In all my troubles sharp and 
When his salvation bringing. 
Over Kedron Jesus treadeth 
Great, Lord of all, thy churches 
Once was heard the song of 
Great God, in vain man's narrow 
Lord, remove the veil away. 



544 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



NAME. 



Knapp, Albert 

Knollis, F. M 

Knorr, Christian.. 
Knowles, J as. D... 

Koitseh, C. J 

Krummacher,F.A 

Kuntli, John S 

Kynaston, Herb... 

Lagniel, John 

Landon, Letitia E 

Langbecker, E. C. G . . 

Lange, Ernest 

Lange, Joachim... 

Lange, J. C 

Lange, John P 

Langford, John.... 

Langford, G. W... 

Latrobe, John A... 

Laurenti, Laur 

Layritz, Fred 

Lee, Fred. G 

Lee, Richard". 

Leeson, Jane E.... 

Lehr, L. F. F 

Leland, John 

Liebich, Ehrenfr.. 

Liguori, St. Alpon 

Lindemann, J 

Lingley, James.... 

LittWale, R. F.... 

Lloyde, Wm. F.... 
472 Long, Edwin M... 

Longfellow, H.W. 

Louisa, Henrietta. 

Lovvrie, John M... 

Lowry, Robert 

Ludaeinilia, Eliz.. 

N. 44 j Luke, Jemima 

262 Luther, Martin.... 

Lynch, Thos. T.... 
274 Lyte, H. Francis.. 



Macduff, John R.. 
Mack ay, Margaret 

Madan, Judith 

Madan, Martin 

Maitland, Fanny F 
Malan, C. H. A.... 

Manley, Basil 

Mant, Richard 

March, Henry 

Mardley, John 

Maria, Q. of Hun. 



Home. • Birth. ...Death, 



Ger. 



Ger.. 
U.S. 
Ger. 
Ger. 
Ger. 
Eng. 

Ensr. 



Ger.. 
Ger.. 
Ger.. 
Ger.. 
Ger .. 
Enar.. 



Eng. 
Ger.. 
Ger.. 
Eng. 



Eng... 
Ger.... 
U. S... 
Ger.... 
Italy.. 
Ger.... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
U. S... 

u. s... 

Ger.... 
U. S... 
U. S... 
Ger.... 
Eng... 
Ger.... 
Eng... 
Eng... 

Scot... 
Scot ... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Switz. 

u. s... 

Eng... 
Eng .. 
Eng... 
Hung 



1798. ..1864 
18— (1860) 
1636. ..1689 
1798. ..1838 

1735 

1768... 1845 
1700. ..1779 
1809 



1728 

1802 

1792. ..1843 
1650. ..1727 
1670... 1744 
1669. ..1756 

1802 

1790 

....(1847).... 
....(1841).... 
1660... 1722 
....(1844).... 

1868 

....(1794).... 

1853 

1709. ..1744 
1754. ..1841 
1713. ..1780 
1696. ..1787 
1580... 1630 
....(1829).... 
....(1867).... 
1791. ..1853 

1827 

1807 

1627... 1667 

18— 

1826 

1640... 1672 

1813 

1483... 1546 
1818. ..1871 
1793. ..1847 

....(1853).... 
....(1832).... 
....(1763).... 
1726... 1790 
....(1827).... 
1787. ..1864 
1825 



Church. 



Luth. 



First Line op one op their Hymns. 

O Father, Thou, who hast created 
There is no night in heaven. 
Dayspring of Eternity. 
O God, through countless worlds 



Luth. 
Bapt. 
Luth JO Fountain eternal of life and 



Ref* 

Luth.*... 
C. Eng.* 



Luth.... 
Luth.... 
Luth.*. 
Luth.*. 
Evang.- 
Bapt.*.. 



C. Eng. 
Luth.... 
Luth.*., 
C. Eng. 



Luth.*... 
Bapt.*.... 
Luth.*... 
CathA... 

Luth 

Bapt 

C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 
Pres.*.... 
Unit'n.... 
Ref 



Bapt.*.... 

Luth 

Cong 

Luth.*... 
Cong.*... 
C. Eng.* 

Pres.* .... 



Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng.* 



1776. 
1790 



.1848 



1505. 



,1562 
.1558 



Ref* 

Bapt.*.... 
C. Eng.* 
Cong.*... 
Ch. Eng. 
Luth 



Though love may weep with 
Yes, there remaineth yet a rest. 
Jesus, solace of my soul. 

Doth He who came the lost to 
While yet the youthful spirit. 
What shall I be, my Lord, when 
O God, Thou bottomless abyss. 
O God, what ottering shall I 
Jesus, thou art my heart's delight 
My Father is the mighty Lord. 
Now begin the heavenly theme. 
Speak gently, it is better far. 

bring to Jehovah your tribute 
Rejoice, rejoice, believers. 

Ah, Jesus, the merit 
Laud the grace of God victorious 
When I view my Saviour bleed- 
Loving Shepherd of thy sheep 
Why halt thus, O deluded heart ? 
The day is past and gone. The 
Come, Christians, praise your 
My Jesus, say what wretch has 
In Thee is gladness. 
Once more we leave the busy 
Wrote hymns for " Thr Peoples Hymnal." 
Wait, my soul, upon the Lord. 
Draw me, Saviour, nearer. 
Tell me not in mournful numbers 
Jesus, my Redeemer lives. • 

Jesus, Author of Salvation. 
Shall we gather at the river 
Draw me to thee, Lord Jesus. 

1 think, when I read that sweet 
Out of the deep, O Lord, we call. 
Gracious Spirit, dwell with me. 
Abide with me, fast falls the 

Oh do not, blessed Lord, depart. 
Asleep in Jesus ! blessed sleep. 
In this world of sin and sorrow. 
Now begin the heavenly theme. 
Much in sorrow, oft in woe. 
No, no, it is not dying. 
Holy, holy, holy Lord. 
Come, Holy Ghost, my soul 
No more, my God, I boast no 
O Lord, turn not thy face from 
Can I my fate no more withstand 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



545 



Page. 



A r . 45 



280 



N. 46 

iV. 47 

290 
JV. 48 



288 



NAME. 



Marot, Samuel 

Marperger, B. W.. 

Marriott, John 

Marsden, Joshua.. 

Mason, John 

Mason, William... 

Masters, Mary 

Matthew, Julia A. 
Matthesius, J. E... 
Maude, Mary F.... 
Maxwell, James... 
McAll, Robert S... 
MeCheyne, B. M.. 

McDonald, W 

Medley, Samuel... 
Meinhold, J. W... 
Mentzer, John..... 
Merrick, James.... 
Metrophanes of Smyr. 

Meyfart, J. M 

Middleton, T. F... 
Midlane, Albert... 

Miles, Sarah E 

Millard, James E. 
Mills, Elizabeth... 

Mills, Henry 

Miller, W. E 

Milman, II. H 

Milton, John 

Mitchel, William. 
Mogridge, Georgia. 

Moir, David M 

Monod, Adolphe... 
Monsell, J. S. B... 
Montgomery, Jas. 
Moore, Hannah... 

Moore, Henry 

Moore, Thomas.... 
Moraht, Adolph... 

More, Henry 

Morell, Thomas... 
Morris, Eliza F.... 
Morris, George P. 
Morrison, John.... 

Mote, Edward 

Moultrie, G 

Moultrie, Mary D. 

Mowes, Henry 

Muhlenberg, W.A 
Muhlmann, John. 
Mliller, Michael... 

Nachtenhofer,C.F 
Nason, Elias 



Ger... 

Ger... 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
L T . S.. 
Ger .. 
Eng.. 
Scot.. 
Scot- 
Scot.. 
U.S.. 
Eng.. 
Ger... 
Ger... 
Eng.. 
Turk. 
Ger... 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U. S.. 
Eng.. 
Ens:.. 



Eng.. 
Ens.. 



Eng.. 
Scot- 
Fran. 
Ire.... 
Scot.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Ire.... 
Ger... 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U. S.. 
Scot.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Ger... 
U.S.. 
Ger... 
Ger... 

Ger... 

U.S.. 



Birth. ...Death. I Church. 



1770... 18— 
1681. ..1746 
1780... 1825 
1777... 1837 

1694 

1725. ..1791 
1702(1755) 

18— 

1504... 1565 
....(1848).... 

1792. ..1838 
1813. ..1843 
18— (1858) 
1738. ..1799 
1797... 1851 
1658... 1734 
1720. ..1769 

910 

1590... 1642 
1769. ..1822 

1825 

....(1840).... 
1S21 (1848) 
1805... 1829 
1786. ..1867 
1766. ..1839 
1791. ..1868 
1608. ..1674 
....(1831).... 
1787. ..1854 
1798. ..1851 

1800 

1811. ..1875 
1771. ..1854 
1743. ..1833 
1732... 1802 
1779... 1852 

1805 

1614. ..1687 
1781. ..1840 
1821(1858) 
18— (1858) 
1749. ..1798 

1797 

...(1867).... 
...(I860).... 
1793. ..1834 

1796 

1543. ..1613 
1673... 1704 



Evang-* 
Luth.*... 
C. Eng.- ; 
Meth.*.., 
C. Eng.-' 
C. Ens:.* 



Epis 

Luth.*... 
Ch. Eng. 
Meth 



Pres.* ... 
Meth.*... 
Bapt.*... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 
C. Eng.* 
Gr. Ch.* 
Luth.*... 
C. Eng.* 



C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 



C. Eng. 
Bapt 



Ch. Eng. 
Pres 



C. Eng.* 
Moray.... 

Ch. Eng. 
Unit'n*. 

Cath 

Luth.*... 
C. Eng.* 
Cons;.*... 



Pres.*.... 
Bapt.*.... 
C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 
Luth.*... 
Epis.* ... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 



First Link of onb op their Hymns. 

From thy heavenly throne. 
Who seeks in weakness an excuse 
Thou, whose almighty word. 
Go, ye messengers of God. 
Blest day of God, most calm, most 
Again returns the day of holy 
'Tis religion that can give. 
" Peace upon earth ! " the angels 
My inmost heart now raises. 
Thine forever, God of Jove. 
Didst thou, dear Saviour, suffer 
Hark ! how the choral song of 
I once was a stranger to grace 
I am coming to the cross. 
Awake, my soul, in joyful lays. 
Gentle Shepherd, thou hast 
Oh that I had a thousand tongues 
The festal morn, my God, is come 

Unity of threefold Light. 
Jerusalem, thou city fair and 
As o'er the past my memory 
Onward, upward, homeward. 
Thou who didst stoop below. 
God eternal ! Lord of all ! 
W T e speak of the realms of the 
The trumpet sounds ! the day 
Our souls, by love together knit 
Bide on, ride on in majesty. 
Let us with a gladsome mind. 
Jesus, thy love shall we forget 
The Son of God, the Lord of life. 
Oh ! who is like the mighty one. 
God of my health, I would thy 
Birds have their quiet nest. 
Prayer is the soul's sincere 

Oh how wondrous is the story ! 
My God, thy boundless love. 
Come, ye disconsolate, where'er 
From Thy heavenly throne. 
On all the earth, Thy Spirit. 
Go, and the Saviour's grace 
God of pity, God of grace. 
Searcher of hearts ! from mine 
The race that long in darkness. 
My hope is built on nothing less. 
Brother, now thy toils are over. 
Agnes, fair martyr 
Thus said the Lord, thy days of 

1 would not live always, I ask 
Who puts his trust in God most 
Good and pleasant 'tis to see 



1624. ..1685 Luth.*... So, Lord, thou goest forth to die. 
(1857)....! j Jesus only, when the morning 



546 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



XAME. 



Naur, Elias E 

JV. 49|Neale, John M 

Neander, Joachim 
Needhaui, John... 

Nelson, David 

Nelson, Ear] 

Nettleton, As 

303 Neumark, George. 

Neumeister, E 

Neumann, Casj)er 

Neumann, G 

Neunherz, John... 

Neuss, H. G 

Nevin, Edwin H.. 
Newman, John H 
Newton, James.... 

306 Newton, John 

Nicholas, T. G 

Nicholson, James. 
Nicolai, Dr. Phil.. 
Noel, Baptist W... 
Noel, Gerard T.... 
Norton, Andrew... 
Notker, Balbulus. 
Nunn, Marianne.. 
Nyberg, L. T 



Home, j Birth Death. I Church. 



324 



N. 50 



330 
334 



Oakeley, Fred 

Oberlin, John F... 
Occom, Samson.... 
Odo, St.(of Oiuny) 

Ogilvie, John 

Olearius, John 

Olivers, Thomas... 
Onderdonk, H. U. 
Onslow, Phipps.... 

Opie, Amelia 

Osier, Edward 

Oswald, Henry 



Pal, Krishna 

Palgrave, Fr. T.... 
Palmer, Phoebe.... 

Palmer, Ray 

Pappus, John 

Park, Roswell 

Park, Thomas 

Parker, John 

Parr, Harriet 

Parson, Eliz 

Patrick, John 

Paulus, Diaconus. 
Peabody, W. B. O. 
Pearce, John 



Den., 

Eng., 
Ger.. 
Eng., 
U.S. 
Eng.. 
U.S. 
Ger.., 
Ger... 
Ger.., 
Ger.. 
Ger... 
Ger... 
U.S.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U.S.. 
Ger... 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
U.S.. 



Eng,. 



Eng... 

Ger.... 

U. S... 

Fran.. 

Scot... 

Ger 

Wales 

U.S.. 

Eng.. 

Fug., 

Eng., 

Ger.. 

Ind.. 
Eng., 
U.S. 
U.S. 
Ger.., 
U.S. 
Eng. 
U.S. 
Eng., 
Eng., 
Enjr , 



1728 

1818. ..1866 
1640.. .1680 
1710.. .1768 
1793. ..1844 
1823 (1864) 
1783. ..1844 
1621. ..1681 
1671. ..1756 
1648 ..1715 
....(1736).... 
1653. ..1737 
1651. ..1716 
1814(1857) 
1801(1833; 
1733. ..1790 
1725. ..1807 
1823... 1860 

18— 

1556... 1608 
1799. ..1873 
1782. ..1851 
1786. ..1853 

912 

1779. ..1847 
1720... 1792 



....(1841).... 
1740... 1826 
1723... 1792 
. 942 
.1814 
.1684 
.1799 
.1858 



879., 
1733. 
1611., 
1725., 
1788.. 



Il7 



Italy. 
U.S.. 



....(I860).... 
1769... 1853 
1798... 1863 
1751. ..1837 

.1764. ..1822 

1824 

.1807. ..1874 

. 1808 

, 1549...1610 
.'1807. ..1869 
, 1760... 1835 

.18- 

,L...(1856).... 
[1812(1836) 
,[....(1679).... 
i fyy 

, l 1799...l847 

'....(1766).... 



Luth 

C. Eng.* 

Ref.* 

Bapt.*.... 
Pres.*.... 



Ch. Eng. 
Cong.*... 

Luth 

Luth.*... 
Luth.* ... 
Morav.... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 

Ret:* 

Cath.*.... 
Bapt. *.... 
C. Eng.* 
0. Eng.* 

Meth 

Luth.*... 
Bapt.*.... 
C. Eng.* 
Unit'u... 
Cath.* ... 



Cath.*..., 
Luth.*.., 
Pres.* .... 
Cath.*..., 
Pres.*..., 
Luth.*... 
Meth.*... 
Ejio.* ... 
C. Eng.* 

Quak 

Ch. Eng. 
Ref 



Bapt.*.... 
Ch. Eng. 

Meth 

Cong.* ... 
Luth.*... 
Epia.*.... 
Ch. Eng. 
Meth.*... 



Ch. Eng. 
Cath.*.... 
Unit'u*.. 



First Link of one of their Hymns. 

When my tongue can no more 
Jerusalem, the golden 
Holy Spirit, once again. 
Holy and reverend is the name. 
My days are gliding swiftly by. 
At thy birth, Incarnate Lord. 
Amazing sight! the Saviour 
Leave God to order all thy ways. 
Jesus sinners doth receive. 
Lord, on earth I dwell in pain. 
At length released from many 
Sad with longing, sick with fears. 
A new and Contrite heart create. 
Always with us, always with 
Lead, kindly light, amid the 
Let plenteous grace descend on 
Glorious things of Thee are spok 
Lord, when before thy throne we 
Dear Jesus, I long to be perfectly 
Awake, awake, for night is flying 
There's not a bird without 
If human kindness meets return. 
My God, I thank thee. . 
In the midst of life, behold. 
There is a Friend above all others 
Father, throned on high 

O come, all ye faithful 
O Lord, thy heavenly grace 
Awaked by Sinai's awful bound. 
JO Church, our Mother, speak his 
I Begin my soul, the exalted lay. 
LS'ee Cox's Sacred Hymns. 
jThe God of Abra'm praise. 
,The Spirit in our hearts. 
Hark ! a glad exulting (Transl.) 
There seems a voice in every 
O God unseen, yet ever near. 
O let him whose sorrow 

O thou, my soul, forget no more. 
Star of morn and even. 
Blessed Bible ! how 1 love thee ! 
My faith looks up to thee. 
My cause is God's, and I am still 
Jesus spreads his banner o'er us. 
My soul, praise the Lord, seek 
The blood, the blood is all my 
Hear my prayer, O heavenly 
Jesus, we love to meet. 
O God, we praise thee and 
Greatest of prophets, messenger 
Behold the western evening light 
All hail, the jHorious morn ! 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



547 



I'agk. 



338 



.V. 51 

jr. 52 



y. 53 



Pearce, Samuel.... 
Peck, George B.... 
Perronet, Edward. 
Peters, Alary B. ... 
Pfefferkorn, G. M. 
Pfeil, C. C. L. von 

Phelps, S. D 

Phillips, Philip.... 

Phillimore, G 

Philpot, Charles... 

Pierpont, John 

Pierson, A. T 

Pine, Alexander.. 
Pitt, Christopher.. 
Plumptre, E. H.... 
Pollard, Josephine 
Pope, Alexander.. 
Porter, Elbert S... 

Pott, Erancis 

Potter, Tho. J 

Pratt, Josiah 

Preiswerk, S 

Prentiss, Mrs. E.P 

Procter, James 

Prudentius, A. C 

Prynne, G. R 

Puchta, C. P. II... 
Pyer, John 



Quarles, Francis... 
Quarles, John 



Rabanus, St. M.... 
Rahles, Thomas... 

Ramback, J. J 

Pawson, George... 

Peed, Andrew 

Reed, Elizabeth.... 
Peese, Eli Yates... 

Reisner, Adam 

Reusner, Chris 

Rhodes, Benj 

Richstein, Win. E. 

Richter, C. F 

Richter, Greg 

Ringwaldt, B 

Rinkart, M 

Rippon, John 

Rist, John 

Pitter, Jacob 

R-obert II. of Fran 
Robertson, Win.... 
Robins, Gurdon... 
Robinson, Ch. S... 



Eng. 
U.S. 
Eng. 
Eng. 
Ger.. 
Ger.. 
J. S. 
U.S. 
Eng. 



U.S. 
U.S. 



Eng.. 



u. s... 

Eng... 

u. s... 

Eng... 

Eng... 
Switz. 



Eng... 
Spain 
Eng... 
Ger.... 
Eng... 

Eng... 
Eng... 

Ger.... 
£ng... 
Ger.... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
U. S... 
Ger.... 
Swed.. 
Eng... 
U.S... 
Ger.... 
Ger.... 
Ger.... 
Ger... 
Eng... 
Ger..., 
Ger.... 
Fran., 
Scot.., 
U. S... 

u. s... 



Birth... Death. 



1766. ..1799 

18— 

17— ...1792 

1856 

1646. ..1732 
1712. ..1784 

1816 

1834 

....(1S63).... 
....(1831).... 
17S5...1866 
1836(1873) 

1S04 

1699. ..174S 
1S21 (186 -j) 

18— 

16S8...1744 

18— 

....(1861).... 
...J1860).... 
1768. ..1844 

1799 

1S19(1869) 
....(1858).... 
348... 413 
....(I860).... 
1 808... 1858 
1790... 1859 

1592. ..1644 
1624.. .1665 

776... 856 
1788. ..1863 
1693.,. 1735 

1807 

1787. ..1S62 
1794. ..1867 
1816. ..1861 
1471. ..1563 
....(1678).... 
1743. ..1815 

18— 

1676. ..1711 

1645 

1530. ..1598 
1586... 1649 
1751. ..1836 
1607. ..1667 
1627. ..1669 

972. ..1031 

1743 

18— 

1829 



Church. 



Bapt.*.... 
Meth.*... 
Indep.*.. 
Ch. Eng. 
Luth.*... 

Luth 

Bapt.*.... 

Meth 

C. Eng.* 

Unit'n*.. 
Pres * .... 



First Line of one of their Hymns. 




C. Eng. 
Cath.*. 
C. Eng. 
Ref.*... 



Cong.*.. 

Cath 

C. Eng: 
Luth.*.. 



Cong.* 



In the floods of tribulation. 
Come, come to Jesus. 
All hail the power of Jesus' name 
Jesus, how much thy name 
[Who knows how near my end 
Oh, blest the house, whate'r 
| Christ who came my soul to save 
I will sing the story 
,0 Lord of health and life. 
Again from calm and sweet 

Thou, to whom in ancient 
To thee, O God, we raise. 
Come, let us join in songs of 
On God we build our sure defense 
Hark ! the hosts of heaven are 

1 stood outside the gate 
Vital spark of heavenly flame ! 
In the far better land of glory 
Lift up your heads, eternal gates. 
Brightly gleams our banner. 
Why should our tears in sorrow 
Hark, the church proclaims her 
More love to Thee, O Christ ! 
Nothing either great or small. 
Of the Father's love begotten. 
Jesu, meek and gentle. 

Lord, a whole long day of pain. 
Met acrain in Jesus' name. 



Ch. Eng. Fountain of light and living 
Ch. Eng. O mother, dear Jerusalem. 

Cath.*... J Christ, the Father's mirrored 
Cong.*...| Blest hour when mortal man 
Luth.*... jl am baptized into thy name. 
Bapt j Praise ye the Lord, immortal 



Cong.* ., 

Cong 

Meth.*... 

Luth 

Luth 

Meth.*... 

Luth 

Luth 

Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.* ... 
Bapt.*.... 
Luth.*... 

Luth 

Cath 

Pres.*.... 

Bapt 

Pres* ... 



Holy Ghost with light divine. 
My longing spirit faints to see. 
Do this and remember the blood. 
[n thee, Lord, have I put my 
Am I a stranger here, on earth 
My heart and voice I raise. 
Come, sinner, turn thy feet. 
O watchman, will the night of 
Now from earth retire, my heart. 
Great God, what do I see and 
Now thank we all our God 
Great God, where'r we pitch our 
How shall I meet Thee ? 
Oh, ye your Saviour's name who 
Come, thou Holy Spirit, come. 
A. little child the Saviour came. 
There is a land mine eye hath 
Saviour, I follow on 



548 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



344 



350 



354 



JV. 54 



NAME. 



Robinson, Geo 

Robinson, Rob. ... 

Rodigast, Sam 

Rorison, Gilb 

Roscommon, E;irl of.. 
Rossetti, Chris. G. 
Rouse, Louisa M.. 

Rothe, John A 

Rowe, Elizabeth... 

Rowland, A. J 

Rowe, John 

Russell, A.T 

Russell, Wm 

Rutilius, Martin... 
Ryland, John 



Sacer, Gottfried W 

Sachs, Hans 

Sachse, C. F. H.... 
Saffery, Maria G... 

Sample, R. F 

Sandys, George.... 

Santolius, M 

Santolius, Vict 

Scales, Thomas.... 
Schade, John O... 
Schalling, Martin. 

Scheffler, John 

Schenk, H. Theod 

Schiebeler, D 

Schirmer, Mich'l.. 
Schlegel, John A. 
Schmidt, John E.. 
Schmolke, Benj.... 
Schmucker, S. S... 
Schneegass, Cyr... 
Schneesing, John. 
Scholefield, Jas.... 

Schroder, J. H 

Schubart, C. F 

Schiitz, John J 

Schweinitz, H. O. 
Scott, Elizabeth... 

Scott, Jacob R 

Scott, Robert A.... 

Scott, Thomas 

Scott, Sir Walter.. 

Scriver, Chris 

Seagrave, Robert- 
Sears, Edmund PI. 
Sedulius, Ccelius... 
Selnecker, Nich... 

Serle, Ambrose 

Seward, Theo. F... 



Home. Birth Death. Church. 



Eng. 
Eng. 
Ger.. 
Scot, 
Eng. 
Eng. 
U.S. 
Ger.. 
Eng. 
U.S. 
Eng. 
Ensr. 



Ger... 
Eng.. 

Ger... 
Ger... 
Ger.., 
Eng.. 
U. S., 
Eng.. 
Fran, 
Fran, 
Eng.. 
Ger.., 
Ger .. 
Ger... 
Ger... 
Ger... 
Ger... 
Ger... 
Ger.. 
Ger... 
U. S.. 
Ger... 
Ger.., 
Eng.. 
Ger... 
Ger... 
Ger... 
Ger.., 
Eng.. 
U.S., 
Eng.. 
Eng.. 
Scot. 
Ger... 
Eng.. 
U. S., 



Ger.. 
Eng.. 
U.S. 



....(1842).... 
1735... 1790 
1649. ..1708 
1821... 1809 

1684 

1830 

18— (1873) 
16S8...1758 
1674. ..1736 

18— 

1764... 1832 

1806 

....(1861).... 
1550... 1618 
1753. ..1825 

1635... 1699 
1494. ..1576 
1785... 1860 
1773. ..1858 
18— (1868) 
1577. ..1643 
1628. ..1684 
1630... 1697 
1786. ..I860 
1666... 1698 
1532. ..1608 
1624. ..1677 

1727 

1741. ..1771 
1606... 1673 
1721. ..1793 
1669. ..1745 
1672. ..1737 
1799. ..1873 

1597 

1567 

1789. ..1853 
1666... 1699 
1739. ..1791 
1640... 1690 
1645. ..1722 
....(1764).... 
1815. ..1861 
....(1839).... 

1776 

1771. ..1832 
1629. ..1693 

1693 

1810 

..5th Cent.. 
1530... 1592 
1742. ..1812 
1835 



Cong 

Bapt.*... 

Luth 

C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eijg. 



Meth..., 
Luth.*., 
Cong .... 
Bapt.*.. 
Bapt.*.. 
C. Eng. 



Luth.*... 

Bapt.*... 

Luth 

Luth 

Luth.*... 

Bapt 

Pres.*.... 
C. Eng.- 
Cath.*.... 
Cath.*.... 
Cong.*... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 

Cath 

Luth.*... 

Luth 

Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 
Luth.*... 
Ch. Eng. 
Luth.*... 

Luth 

Ref. 

Luth 

Pres 

Bapt.*.... 
C. Eng * 
Pres.*.... 
Ch. Eng. 
Luth.*... 
C. Eng.* 
Cons.*... 



First Line op one op their Hymns. 



Luth.*. 
Ch. En« 
Pres 



One sole baptismal sign. 
Come, thou Fount of every bless- 
Whate'er my God ordains is right 
Three in One, and One in Three. 
My God, my Father, and my 
What are these that glow from 
Precious Saviour, thou hast saved 
Now I have found the ground. 
Begin the high celestial strain. 
There's rest in the shadow of 
From the table now retiring 
O'er the dark sea of Galilee. 
More marred than any man's 
Alas ! my Lord and God ! 
Sovereign Ruler of the skies. 

Then I have conquered. 
Why art thou thus cast down, 
See "Hymns from Land of Luther." 
'Tis the great Father we adore. 
I hear a voice, 'tis soft and sweet 
Thou, who art enthroned above. 
Now, my soul, thy voice uprais- 
O Lord, how joyful 'tis to see ! 
Amazing was the grace ! 
Up ! yes, upward to thy gladness 
Lord, all my heart is fixed on 
Jesus, Jesus ! visit me. 
Who are these like stars appear, 
How oft have I the covenant 
O Holy Spirit, enter in. 
See his hymn* in "Chorale Book." 
All is fulfilled, my heart, record. 
iHosannah to the Son of David. 
JFrom Calvary's sacred mountain 
The holy Son, thenew-born child. 
I Lord Jesus Christ, in Thee alone 
Draw me,0 draw me, my gracious 
Wisdom's unexhausted treasure 
All things are yours. 
All praise and thanks to God 
Will not that joyful be? 
All hail, incarnate God. 
To Thee, this temple we devote. 
All glory be to Thee. 
Hasten, sinner, to be wise. 
The day of wrath, that dreadful 
See No. 6, Russell's Psalms and Hymns. 
Rise, my soul, and stretch thy 
Calm on the listening ear of 
Why doth that impious Herod 
O Lord, my God, I cry to Thee. 
Thy way, O Lord, with wise 
Go and tell Jesus, weary, sin-sick 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



549 



NAME. 



Seymour, A. C. H. 

Shepherd, Anne... 

Shepherd, Thos.... 

Sherwin, W. F 

220 Shirley, Selina 

358 Shirley, Walter.... 

Shrubsole, Wm.... 
N. 61 Sigourney, Lydia H. . 

Smith, Car. S 

Smith, George 

Smith, J.Wheaton 

Smith, Sir J. E.... 

Smith, Joseph D.. 

Smith, Samuel F.. 

Smith, Samuel J.. 

Smyltan, Geo. H.. 

Spurgeon, C. H.... 

Stammers, Jos 

Stanley, Arth. P... 

360 Steele, Anne 

366 Stennett, Joseph.. 
366 Stennett, Samuel.. 

Sterling, John 

Sternhold, Thos.... 

Stevenson, Wm.... 

Stockton, T. H 

Stowe, Harriet B.. 

Stowell, Hugh 

Straphan, Joseph 

Summers, Thos.. v 

Sutton, Amos 

Swain, Joseph 

Swaine, Edward... 

Tappan, Wm 

Tate, Nahum 

Tauler, John 

Taylor, Anne 

Taylor, Clara 

Taylor, Jane 

Taylor, Jeremy.... 

Tavlor, John 

Taylor, Thos. E... 

Taylor, Vergil 

iV. 58 Tersteegen, Ger... 

Thrupp, D. A 

Toke, Emma 

Tonna, Charl. E... 
Toplady, Aug. M.. 

Tourneaux, N. C. 
[Trench, Rich. C... 

Trend, Henrv 

(Tritton, G 

Tucker, William.. 



K 55 



J\ r . 56 

N. 57 



Home. Birth.... Death 



.1828 



.1835 



1789 

1809. ..1857 
1809... 1857 

18— 

1707. ..1791 
1725. ..1786 
1759... 1829 
1791. ..1865 
18— (1855) 
1803. ..1870 
1826 
1759 
1816 
1809 
1771 

182- 

1834 

1801 

1815 

1716. ..1778 
1663. ..1713 
1727. ..1795 
1806... 1844 

1549 

18— 

18— (1871) 

1814 

1799. ..1865 

1757 

1812 

1804... 1854 
1761. ..1796 
1795. ..1862 

1795. ..1849 
1652. ..1715 
1294... 1361 
1782... 1866 

1778 

1783. ..1824 
1613... 1667 
1694.. .1761 
1807... 1835 

1817 

1697. ..1769 
1779. ..1847 
....(1851).... 
1790. ..1846 
1740.. .1778 
1640. ..1686 

1807 

1804 

....(1861).... 
1731. ..1816 



Church. 



First Line of one op their Hymns. 



Ch. Eng. 
Ch. Eng. 
Cong. : ... 

Bapt 

Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng.* 
Cong.*... 

Cong 

Cong 

Cong.* ... 
Bapt.*.... 
Unit'n.... 
Cong.* ... 
Bapt.*.... 

Quak 

C. Eng * 
Bapt.*.... 
Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng.* 

Bapt 

Bapt.*.... 
Bapt.*.... 
C. Eng* 
Ch. Eng. 

Meth 

Meth.*.. 

Epis 

C. Eng* 
Ch. Eng. 
Meth.*... 
Bapt.*... 
Bapt.*.... 
Cong.* ... 

Cong.*... 
Ch. Eng. 
Cath.*... 

Cong 

Ch. Eng. 

Cong 

C. Eng * 
Unit'n*.. 
Cong.* ... 



Ref. 

Ch. Eng. 
Ch. Eng. 
Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng * 
Cath.*.... 
C. Eng* 
C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 
Bapt 



Awake, All-conquering Arm, 
Around the throne of God in 
When wilt thou come unto me, 
Wake the song of joy and glad- 
Generally known as Lad;/ Huntingdon. 
Lord, dismiss us with thy bless- 
Arm of the Lord ! awake, awake 
Laborers of Christ, arise 
Tarry with me, O my Saviour. 
Thou art, O Christ, the way. 
'Tis sweet, in trials of conflicts 
Praise waits in Zion, Lord, for 
Just as thou art, 'how wondrous 
My country, 'tis of thee. 
Arise, my soul, with rapture 
Forty days and forty nights 
The Holy Ghost is here 
Breast the wave, Christian 
He is gone beyond the skies. 
Father, whate'er of earthly bliss 
Another six days' work is done 
On Jordan's stormy banks I 
O Source divine, and Life of all 
The Lord descends from heaven 
Shall we meet in heaven, shall 
The cross ! the cross ! the blood- 
Still, still with thee, when purple 
From every stormy wind that 
Blest is the man whose heart 
We are joyously voyaging over 
Hail, sweetest, dearest tie that 
Come, ye souls by sin afflicted. 
Lord Jesus, let thy watchful care 

'Tis midnight and on Olive's 
To bless thy chosen race. 
There comes a galley sailing. 
There is a dear and hallowed spot 
What wondrous course could 
Come, my fond fluttering heart ! 
Draw nigh to Thy Jerusalem, O 
God of mercy, God of love. 
Fm but a stranger here. 
Nothing but leaves — the Spirit , 
Lo, God is here ; let us adore. 
Saviour, like a Shepherd lead us 
Thou art gone up on high 
Sinner, what has earth to show? 
Rock of ages, cleft for me. 
Angels, to our jubilee. 
Pour forth the oil, pour boldly 
Praise, O praise our Heavenly 
Sing to the Lord with heart and 
Amidst ten thousand anxious 



550 



Synopsis of Hymn Writers. 



Pack. 



496 



396 
434 

478 
N. 59 
N. 60 

486 



490 



497 



498 



Turner, Daniel... 
Turney, Edward. 
Tuttiett, Lawr...., 
Twells, H 



Upham, R. T. C... 

Upton, James 

Urwiek, William.. 



Vaughan, Chas. J. 
Vaughan, Henry.. 

Venn, Henry. 

Vinet, Alexander. 
Yoke, Mrs 



Walford, W. W.... 

Wallin, Benj 

Wardlavv, Ralph.. 
Watts, Alaric A... 

Watts, Isaac 

Wesley, Charles... 

Wesley, John 

Wesley, Sam '1, Sr. 
Wesley, Sam'l, Jr. 
Whitfield, Fred.... 
White, Henry K.. 
Whiting, William 
Whittemore, Miss H. 
Whittier, John G. 
Whytehead, Thos. 
Williams, Benj.... 
Williams,HelenM 
Williams, Isaac... 

Williams, Wm 

Willis, N. P 

Windgrove, John. 
Winkler, Edwin T 
Wink worth, Cath. 
Wither, George.... 
Wittenieyer, Mrs. A. . 
Wolcot, Samuel... 

Wolf, Aaron R 

Wood, Basil 

Woodford, Jas. R. 
Wordsworth, Chr. 
Wordsworth, Wm 
Wreford, John R. 
Wright, Philip J. 
Wyatt, Henry H.. 

Xavier, Francis... 

Young, Andrew... 

Zinzendorf, N. L.. 



Eng. 
U.S. 
Enar. 



U.S. 
Eng. 



Eng... 
Wales 
Eng... 
Fran.. 
Eng... 

Eng... 
Eng... 
Scot... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
U. S... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Wales 
U. S... 
Eng... 
U. S... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
U. S... 



Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 
Eng... 

Spain 

Scot... 

Ger.... 



Birth. ...Death. I Church. 



1710. ..1798 
1817. ..1872 

1825 

1823 (1868) 

1799. ..1872 
1760. ..1831 
1791. ..1868 



1817 

1621. ..1695 
1724. ..1797 
1797. ..1847 
17— ...18— 



....(1849).... 
1711. ..1782 
1779... 1855 
1797... 1884 
1674. ..1748 
1708... 1788 
1703. ..1791 
1662. ..1735 
1690... 1739 

1829 

1785. ..1806 

1825 

....(I860).... 

1808 

1815... 1843 
....(1778).... 
1762. ..1827 
1802. ..1865 
1717. ..1791 
1807. ..1867 
1720... 1793 
....(1871).... 
1829(1855) 
1588. ..1667 
18— (1868) 
1813(1869) 
1821. ..1852 
1760. ..1831 
....(1852).... 

1807 

1770. ..1850 
....(1837).... 
1810. ..1863 
....(1859).... 

1506. ..1552 

1810 

1700.. .1760 



Bapt.*.. 
Bapt.*.. 

C. Eng. 



Bapt.*... 

Cong.* ... 

C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng\* 



Cong. 



Bapt.*.... 
Cong.*... 
Ch. Eng. 

Indep 

C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.* 
C. Eng* 
C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 
C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 

Quak 

C. Eng.* 
Unit'n*.. 
Unit'n.... 
C. Eng.* 
Meth.*.. 



Meth 

Bapt.*... 
Ch. Eng. 
Ch. Eng. 
Meth 



C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.* 
C. Eng.* 
Ch. Eng. 
Pres.* ... 
Meth.*... 
C. Eng.* 

Cath.*.... 

Pres 

Morav.*. 



First Line of one of their Hymns. 



Jesus, full of all compassion. 
Oh love divine ! oh matchless 
Go forward, Christian soldier. 
At even whene'er the sun was 

Fear not, poor weary one 
Come, ye who bow to sovereign 
How sweet to bless the Lord. 

Lord, whose temple once did 
My soul, there is a country 
Thy miracles of love 
Beneath thy veil of shame and 
Thy people, Lord ! who trust 

Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour 
Hail, mighty Jesus ! how divine ! 
Lift up to God the voice of praise 
When shall we meet again ? 
Salvation ! O, the joyful sound. 
Jesus, lover of my soul. 
How happy is the pilgrim's lot ! 
Behold the Saviour of mankind ! 
From whence these dire portents 
I need Thee, precious Jesus 
When marshalled on the mighty 
Eternal Father, strong to save 
How sweet to think that all who 
Another hand is beckoning on. 
Resting from His work to-day. 
Lord ! what our ears have heard ! 
While Thee I seek, protecting 

heavenly Jerusalem. 

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah 
The perfect world by Adam trod. 
Hail ! my ever blessed Jesus. 
Our land with mercies crowned. 
If Jesus be my friend. 
Come, O come, with sacred lay. 

1 have entered the valley of 
Christ for the world we sing. 
Draw near, O Holy Dove, draw 
Blest be Jehovah, mighty Lord. 
Lamb of God, for sinners slain. 
O day of rest and gladness. 
Not seldom clad in radiant vest. 
Lord, while for all mankind we 
The Lord of Glory left his throne 
God, the Lord, has heard our 

My God, I love Thee, not because 

There is a happy land. 

Jesus, thy blood and righteous- 



BRIEF NOTES REFERRED TO IN THE SYNOPSIS. 



1. Adam, St. Victor. — Trench styles him " The foremost amongst the sacred 
Latin poets of the Middle Ages. Out of one hundred pieces at least fifty 
are of the highest excellence." 

2. Alexander, Mrs. C. F. — Wife of the Rev. W. Alexander. Author of 
"Hymns for Little Children, ' of which a quarter of a million have been sold. 

3. Allen, James. — Editor of " The Kendal Hymn Book," for which he 
wrote seventy hymns. The precious hymn, "Sveet the moments, rich in 
blessing," was written by him, but much altered and improved by Shirley. 

4. Auber, Miss Harriet. — Her hymns are taken from her work, entitled, 
"The Spirit of the Psalms, or a Compressed Version of the Psalms of 
David," ( 1829 ). She lived a retired life, and reached her eighty-ninth year. 

6. Baker, Rev. Henry — His hymns are found in " Hymns Ancient and 
Modern," (1861), of which he was the principal compiler. 

6. Bakewell, John. — Lived to his 98th year. On his tomb it is said, "He 
adorned the doctrine of God, our Saviour eighty years, and preached his 
glorious gospel about seventy years." He wrote for th? press after he 
was ninety. He was author of a number of hymns. 

7. Baldwin, Thovas D. D. — He was in early life a member of the Legisla- 
ture in Connecticut. In 1790, became pastor of the 2nd Baptist Church, 
Boston. While in this charge, his labors were greatly blessed. He died 
suddenly while on a journey from home, in 1825. 

8. Barbauld, Mrs. AnNvV. — She was the daughter of Dr. John Aikin, and 
wife of Rev. R. Barbauld, a student of Dr. Doddridge. Four editions of 
her hymns were sold in the year 1773. In 1775, she issued " Devotional 
Pieces compiled from the Psalms of David." A fine specimen of her poetic 
powers is given in her much-admired hymn, " How blest the righteous 
when he dies." Her peaceful death occurred in her eighty-second year. 

9. Barton, Bernard. — He is known as the " Quaker poet." His hymns 
are taken from his " Half dozen volumes of verse," which were composed 
during his forty-years' clerkship in a bank. 

10. Bathurst, William H. — He issued in 1831, "Psalms and Hymns for 
Public and Private use.'' The two hundred and six hymns were all his 
own, as well as most of the psalms. 

11. Bethune, G. W., D. D. — His hymn, "Oh, for the happy hour," was 
written in church, while waiting for the arrival of his audience, and while 
his heart was burdened with a " Longing for a Revival." 

12. Bilby, Thomaj». — His well-known hymn, " Oh, that will be joyful," was 
issued in 1832. He died in 1872, aged seventy-eight. 

13. Blacklock, Thomas, D. D. — Was blind during the seventy years of his 
life, yet became quite learned, and was the author of several works in 
prose and one in poetry. 

14. Borthwick, Miss Jane. — One of the authoresses of " Hymns from the 
Land of Luther." 



552 Appendix. 

15. Bowring, Sir Jotin. — A voluminous writer. Author of " Matins and 
Vespers, with Hymns and Devotional Pieces," ( 1823), and of u Hymns 
as a Sequel to the Matins,'' ( 1825). 

16. Browne, Simon. — He was a cotemporary with Watts. Among the twen- 
ty-three works, from his pen, was a hymn-book entitled, " Hymns and Spir- 
itual Songs." During the last years of his life, he had s malady that led 
him to imagine that he could not think, and yet, at the same time, as 
Toplady says, " Instead of having no soul, he wrote, and reasoned, and 
prayed as if he had two." 

17. Bruce, Michael. — This promising young poet was found dead in bed, 
one morning. He died at tweniy-one, the same age as Henry Kirk White, 
whom he resembled in many respects. After his death, the poet Logan 
plagerized some of his productions. 

18. Burden, Gkoroe. — Widely known as the author of eight -volumes of 
"Village Sermons." In 1784, he published " A Collection of Hymns from 
Various Authors," in which were several of his own. His busy and use- 
ful life reached its eightieth year. 

19. Caswall, Edward. — Transferred his relation from the Church of Eng- 
land to the Roman Catholic Church, in 1847. 

20. Chandlkr, John. — Author of " Hymns of the Primitive Church," issued 
in 1837. He has translated many hymns from the Latin. 

21. Clemens, St. — His hymn is supposed to be the oldest extant. 

22. Codner, Elizabeth. — Author of "The Missionary Ship," and "The 
Bible in the Kitchen," etc. 

23. Collyer, William B. — Mr. Miller says : " For half a century Dr. Collyer 
was one of the most popular Dissenting ministers in London." In 1812, 
he issued a collection of hymns, of which fifty-seven were by himself, and 
in 1837, another work, in which were eighty-nine hymns of his own com- 
position. His last sermon, delivered shortly before his death in his seven- 
ty second year, was from the text: "How wilt thou do in the swellings of 
Jordan." 

24. Conder, Josiah. — Produced in 1836 the first "Congregational Hymn 
Book," in which were fifty-six hymns fro<;a his own pen. 

25. Cook, R. S. — He was highly esteemed as one of the Secretaries of the 
American Tract Society. His hymn was prepared for the American 
Messenger, March, 1850. 

26. Cottsrill, Thomas. — Author of " A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for 
Public and Private Use," in which twenty-two hymns and a few Psalms 
are attributed to him. 

27. Db Fleury, Maria. — Author of "Divine Poems and Essays on Various 
Subjects." (1791). 

28. Denny, Sir Edward. — His "Hymns and Poems" appeared in 1839. 

29. Doank, Geo. W., D. l>. — In 1832, he was consecrated Bishop of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church of New Jersey. 

30. Duncan, Mary L. — Wife of Rev. W. W. Duncan, and author of " Rhymes 
for My Children." 

31. Dwight, Juhn S. — Son of Dr. Timothy Dwight. 

33. Edmeston, James. — A London architect. Author of "Sacred Lyrics," 
1820; "The Cottage Minstrel," 1821; "Closet Hymns and Poems," 1843; 
"Hymns for the Young," 184G; and over 100 hymns for Sabbath Schools. 



Appendix. 553 

34. Fabkr, F. W., D. D. — Author of one hundred and fifty hymns. In a 
preface, he says, ''It is an immense mercy of God to allow any one to do 
the least thing which brings souls nearer to Him." He became a Roman 
Catholic in 1846. His hymns are of high repute among Protestants. 

35. Francis, Benjamin. — A Welshman. Began to preach when nineteen 
years of age. Was ordained at Shortwood, England, where he preached 
for forty-one years. His success occasioned the enlargement of his churcli 
three times. He composed two volumes of Welsh hymns. 

36. Gibbons, Thomas, D. D. — An intimate friend of Whitefield. Was pastor 
of an Independent church for forty-two years Wrote the " Memoir of 
Dr. Watts." His first collections of hymns appeared in 1769; the second 
in 1784. 

37. Gilmore, J. H. — Professor in Rochester University, New York. His 
hymn," He leadeth me," etc., was written at the close of a lecture on the 
23rd Psalm, in the 1st Baptist Church, Philadelphia. 

38. Goode, William. — Author of u New Version of the Psalms." Noted for 
early and earnest piety. Was successor to the celebrated Romaine. 

39. Grant, Sir Robert. — English Governor of Bombay, and author of 
" Sacred Poems." 

40. Hall, C. Newman. — Author of the well-known work, "Come to Jesus." 
He is one of the successors of Rowland Hill. 

41. Hammond, William. — Author of " Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs" 
issued in 1745. 

42. Hastings, T. — Widely known as a musician. Issued the " Union Min- 
strel" for Sunday Schools, in 1830; "Spiritual Songs," in 1832; "Christ- 
ian Psalmist," in 1836; "Devotional Hymns and Religious Poems," in 1850 ; 
and "Church Melodies." in 1864. 

43. Haweis, Thomas. — Author of "Carmina Christo; or Hymns to the 
Saviour," 1792. The enlarged edition of 1808 has 256 hymns by the 
author. 

44. Luke, Jemima. — Wife of Rev. Samuel Luke. Wrote her popular hymn, 
" I think when read that sv eet story of old," in a stage coach in 1841. 

45. Mason, John. — Author of "Spiritual Songs," etc., issued in 1683. He 
was one of the few who wrote good hymns before the time when "Watts 
made an era in the history of the hyuun-writing art." 

46. Mills, Elizabeth. — Her hymn, " We speak of the realms of the blest," 
was written a few weeks before her death, and was suggested by the re- 
mark : " We speak of heaven, but oh ! to be there." 

47. Milton, John. — Author of "Nine Psal us done in Metre." Wrote the 
psalm, "Let us with a gladsome mind," when but fifteen years of age. 

48. Moobe, Thomas. — The gifted Irish poet. His h\ mns are taken from his 
"Sacred Songs," 33 in number, issued in 1816. 

49. Neale, John M. — Author of " Mediaeval Hymns," 1851; " Hymns for 
Children," 1854 ; and numerous other works. 

50. Olivers, Thomas. — A convert through Whitfield's preaching. Of him 
it is said, " He spent so many hours on his knees in prayer, as to make 
him limp a little in walking." Though previous to his conversion an 
illiterate shoemaker, yet of his hymn, " The God of Abraham praise," 
Montgomery says : " There is not in our language, a lyric, of more majestic 
style, more elevated thought, or more glorious imagery." 



554 Appendix. 

51. Raffles, Dr. Tho's. — A popular and eloquent preacher. Wrote many 
hymns for the use of his congregation in Liverpool, Eng., of which he 
continued the pastor for over fifteen years. 

52. Reed, Andrew, D.D. — Compiled "The Hymn Book," for which he and 
his wife wrote forty hymns. When near the end of life, his hymn, "There 
is an hour when I must part," was read in his hearing. "That hymn," 
said he, "I wrote at Geneva; it has brought comfort to many, and now it 
brings comfort to me." 

53. Rippon, John. — Commenced, in 1778, the issue of his " Selection of 
Hymns from the best Authors, with a great number of Originals." Over 
thirty editions have been published. He was pastor for 63 years of a 
Baptist church in London. 

54. Scheiffler, John. — Was the founder of tha Silesian or Mystical school. 
Is sometimes known as Angelus Silesius, an adopted name. 

55. Swain, Joseph. — Author of the "Walworth Hymns." After his con- 
version he wrote hymns to give utterance to his new joy. It is said: " A 
friend, having overheard him singing these Christian hymns, took him to 
hear Gospel preaching, — a privilege he had not enjoyed before." He 
afterwards became a popular preacher. 

56. Tappan, W. B — A voluminous religious poet. Author of " Poems and 
Lyrics," 1812, "Sacred and Miscellaneous Poems," 1858. His life was spent 
mainly in the service of the American Sunday School Union. 

57. Tate, Nahum. — This psalm-writer was associated with Dr. Nicholas 
Brady in rendering a metrical version of the Psalms, issued in 1696, which 
took the place of the l< Psalter," by Sternhold and Hopkins, published 
in the year 1562. 

58. Tersteegsn, Ger\rd. — Author of one hundred and eleven hymns. 
When sixteen, he became the subject of divine grace, and would spend 
"whole nights in prayer, reading and meditation." After finding rest in 
the atoning blood of Christ, he wrote a dedication of himself to Christ 
with his own blood. Having gained great celebrity, through his writings 
and soul-saving efforts, the sick in soul and body nocked, from all coun- 
tries, to his "Pilgrim's Cottage." His time became thus so much ab- 
sorbed, that he relinquished his business, — the manufacture of silk 
ribbons. 

59. Wesley, Samuel Sr. — The father of nineteen children, of which Charles, 
John, and Samuel became distinguished. His hymn, " Behold the Saviour 
of mankind," was rescued from the flames, with some marks of the fire 
upon it, at the name time that his son, John, was snatched as a brand from 
the burning. While engaged in his old age in writing a comment on Job 
his right arm became paralized. He afterward seized the pen with his 
left hand, and wrote to a friend saying, that he was sending his left hand 
to school to learn to write for Jesus. 

60. Wesley, Samuel Jr. — Brother of John and Charles. His "Poems on 
Several Occasions," 1736, together with his hymns, evince considerable 
poetic talent. 

61. Sigourney, L. H. — Of her, it is said : " At three years of age she might 
be seen reading her Bible," and at "eight year? she knew how to express 
her thoughts in writing with ease and beauty.'" In her 23rd year she 
issued the first o: her numerous works, entitled, " Moral Pieces." 



First Lines of Hymns Referred to 
or Illustrated. 

o 

Atwde with me, fast falls the eventide Page 276 

A charge to keep I have 4 39 

A guilty, weak and helpless worm 423 

Alas! and did ray Saviour bleed 420-423 

All hail the power of Jesus' name 338-342 

Alone, yet not alone, am 1 83 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound 306 

A mighty fortress is our God 270 

And must I part with all I have 55 

And must this body die 433 

Another six days' work is done 366 

As the sun doth daily rise 40 

Awaked by Sinai's awful sound 324 

Awake, my soul, and with the sun 244 

Awake, my soul, in joyful lays 280 

Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve 144 

Awake, my soul, to meet the day 135 

Before Jehovah's awful throne 417 

Behold the glories of the Lamb 408 

Be present at our table, Lord 484 

Beyond the parting and the meeting 28 

Blest be the tie that binds 170 

Children of the heavenly King 260 

Come, every pious heart 369 

Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove 419, 426 

Come, Holy Spirit, come 196, 55 

Come, humble sinner in whose breast 233 

Come, let us join our friends above 476 

Commit thou all thy griefs 478, 175 

Come on, my partners in distress 370 

Come, O thou all victorious Lord 465 

Come, thou Fount of every blessing 3-i4-349 

Come to Jesus, come to Jesus 329 

Come, we that love the Lord 2G0, 519 

Come, ye disconsolate 528, 289 

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy 1£>6 

Daughter of Zion from the dust 

Dear Christian people, now rejoice 265 

Dear Jesus, let an infant claim 216 

Depth of mercy, can there be 4C4 

Did Christ o'er sinners weep 54 

Draw me, Saviour, nearer 32 



556 First lines of hymns. 

Fade each earthly joy 485 

Far from the world, Lord, I flee 99 

Forever let my grateful heart 512 

Forever with the Lord 299 

Forth to the laud of promise bound 37 

From every stormy wind that blows 376 

From Greenland's icy mountains 205 

From the cross uplifted high 199 

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild 285 

Gently, my Saviour, let me down .219 

Give me the enlarged desire 475 

Give me the wings of faith to rise 409 

Give to the winds thy fears 172 

v Glory and thanks to God we give 461 

Glory to thee, my God, this night 244, 255, 247, 256 

God moves in a mysterious way 283, 336, 120 

Grace 'tis a charming sound , 128 

Guide me, thou great Jehovah 490-495 

Hark! my soul, it is the Lord 121 

Hark! ten thousand harps and voices 243 

Hark! the eternal rends the sky 513 

Hear, gracious Saviour, from thy throne 146 

Heavenly Father, we thy children meet 258 

Here at thy table, Lord, we meet 369 

Hosannah to Jesus on high 485 

How are thy servants blessed, Lord 27 

How blest the creature is, God 96 

How charming is the place 369 

How happy every child of grace 468 

How sweet the melting lay 80 

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 316 

How tedious and tasteless the hours 183, 256 

How vain are all things here below 407 

I am weary of my sin 279 

If life's pleasures charm thee 261 

I gave my life for thee 201 

I heard the voice of Jesus say 70 

I lay my sins on Jesus 73 

I'll praise my Maker while I've breath 248 

I love thy kingdom, Lord 150 

I love to steal a while away 74, 525 

l'.n a poor sinner 343 

In age and feebleness extreme 437 

In all my Lord's appointed ways 350 

In evil long I took delight 306 

In peace let me resign my breath „ 322 

I send the joys of earth away - 278 

I was a wandering sheep 66, 172 

I would love thee, God and Father 189 

I would not live alway 288 



First lines of hymns. 557 

Jesus, and shall it ever be 333, 180 

Jesus, at thy command 364 

Jesus, I live to thee 194 

Jesus, I love thy charming name 138, 432 

Jesus, I my cross have taken 274, 277, 183 

Jesus, lover of my soul 4 440-460 

Jesus loves me, this I know 199 

Jesus, my all to heaven is gone 91 

Jesus, the name high overall 466 495 

Jesus, the very thought of thee 56 

Jesus, this midday hour 80 

Jesus, thy blood and righteousness ^..478, 498, 230 

Jesus, we lift our souls to thee 524 

Jesus, where'er thy children meet ....101 

Jesus, who knows full well 310 

Joyfully on earth adore him 169 

Just as lam, without one plea 156-162, 375 

Leave God to order all thy ways 305 

Let not the errors of my youth 453 

Like the sea that cannot rest 450 

Lo ! on a narrow neck of land 470-474 

Lord, I am thine, entirely thine 122-123 

Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear , 418 

Lord, it belongs not to my care 45 

Majestic sweetness sits enthroned 369 

'Mid scenes of confusion and creature complaints 124 

Mighty God! while angels bless thee 348 

My country, 'tis of thee 359 

My faith looks up to thee 334-337 

My drowsy powers, why sleep ye so ,....431 

My God, 1 love thee, not because 497 

My Lord, how full of sweet content 188 

Nearer, my God, to thee 29-31 

No room for mirth and trifling here 463 

Not all the blood of beasts 414-416 

O could I speak the matchless worth 280, 283 

O do not be discouraged 321 

O happy saints who dwell in light 58 

O for a closer walk with God 97, 5 1 1 

O for a thousand tongues to sing 438 

O glorious hope of perfect love 370 

O happy day that fixed my choice 142 

O Lord, another day is flown 489 

O Lord, I would delight in thee 353 

O Lord, thy work revive 79 

One sweetly solemn thought g 4 

One there isabove all others : 317-320 

O thou, my soul, forget no more 330 

O turn }-e, O turn ye 324-3^8 

Our Father, God, who art in heaven 239 



558 First lines of hymns, 

what amazing words of grace 286 

where shall rest be found 298 

Peace, troubled soul, whose plaintive moan 358 

People of the living God 299 

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow 257-260 

Praise the Lord ye Gentiles all 251 

Prayer was appointed to convey 299, 196 

Prostrate, dear Jesus, at thy feet 369 

Religion is the chief concern 169 

Rock of ages, cleft for me 380-395 

Saviour, breathe an evening blessing 524 

Servants of God, in joyful lays 293 

Since Jesus freely did appear 65 

Sister, thou wast mild and lovely 525 

Show pity, Lord, Lord, forgive 277, 411 

Stop, poor sinner, stop and think 323 

Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear 240 

Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer 490 

Sweet is the work, my God, my King 155 

Sweet the moments, rich in blessing 551 

Ten thousand times ten thousand 38 

The birds more happier far than 1 4'9 

The Lord himself my Shepherd is 42 

The Lord my pasture shall prepare 26 

The Lord our God is clothed with might 489 

There all the ship's company meet 439 

There is a fountain filled with blood 102 

There is a happy land ; 372 

There is a land of pure delight 372, 403, 408 

The Saviour, O what endless charms 360 

The spacious firmament on high 26 

Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love 138 

Thou art gone to the grave 211 

Though waves and storms go over my head 449 

Thou God of love, thou ever blest 521 

Thou, O my Jesus, didst me embrace 407 

"'Tis finished," so the Saviour cried ."..".." " ...369 

"Watch and pray, watch and pray" '.'.412 

"When all thy mercies, O my God »""!""!!!!"!"."!11!"J.V™!1!!!!1!!!!!1.26 

When I can read my title clear .......""! "T.*."*.!.!il 2 

When I survey the wondrous cross '. .*.'.V.'.'. , .'.*385,'42'4-425 

When marshaled on the nightlv plain '. 489 

When rising from the bed of death ...7.. ...27 

When thou, my righteous judge, shalt come 220-228 

Where two or three, together meet 106 

While life prolongs its precious light 150 

While on the verge of life T stand 136 

Who knows how near my life's expended 52 

Why vail thyself in gloom, my heart .357 

Worship and thanks and blessing 469 



^jg 



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j*RAISE YE THE J^DRD 



"F 88 



3^S! 



ILLUSTRxlTED HISTORY 



or 



Stxaday School Soaj 



• The Singing of Children. 

§VER since "the morning stars sang- together, and all 
the sons of God shouted for joy/' the fresh music of 
childhood's early morn has risen as sweet incense to 
the Lord of Host. During the great revival in Jerusa- 
lem, in the times of Nehemiah, not only were streets made 
wet with the tears of penitence, as "all the people wept 
when they heard the words of the law/' but they were 
also made to resound with "gladness, both with thanks- 
giving, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and 
with harps." Among the sounds of joy were blended 




18 



Children's hosannas. 






the sweet echoes of children's praise, for, while the " sing- 
ers sang loud with Jezrahiah, the overseer, the wives 
also and the children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusa- 
lem was heard even afar off." 

Neither were the children silent, when, in after years 
the same streets became vocal with the Pentecostal 
revival. Peter made it prominent that the promise was 
to the children as well as to those afar off. This was 
but right, for did they not shout " Hosanna to the Son 
of David" in the temple, and when some were sore dis- 
pleased, the Saviour replied, "Have ye never read, 'Out 
of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected 

O ) J) 

praise c 

During the revival of modern hymnology, Dr. Watts 
was led by heavenly wisdom to provide hymns and songs 
for children. And no sentence, carved in the granite 
monument, lately erected to his memory, has greater 
significance than that 

" He gave to lisping infancy its earliest and purest lessons." 

As showing some of the happy results of his hymns 
for children we give the following from the address of a 
pastor, furnished by the Rev. S. W. Christophers: — 

"A good man in declining life told me that the first 
book in which, as a child, he took an interest, was a 
small edition of Watts' ' Hymns and Divine Songs' for 
children. Each hymn was headed by a woodcut, and 
one especially was his favorite. It represented a little 
boy, something like himself, as he thought, leaning at 
an open window, looking at a calm happy face on the 
setting sun, which was throwing his parting light upon 
a quiet country scene. Many of the hymns, and that 
one in particular, had been read often, until they lived 
in his soul. But as he grew up, the impressions were 
worn off by more exciting and less pure thoughts and 



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Watts' hymns for children. 



19 



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pursuits. He fell into a course of dissipation and vice, 
and seemed for a time to be given up to sin, and devoted 
to ruin. Worn down at last and threatened with con- 
sumption, he was ordered into the country for change of 
air; and after some time spent in quietness and retire- 
ment, far away from the scenes of old temptations, he 
wandered out one evening about sunset, and hanging 
pensively over a gate, he watched the sun as it sunk be- 
hind the copse, and was throwing its last beams upon 
the silent and peaceful hill-side. There was a hush upon 
his spirits, and suddenly, as if sketched by an unseen 
hand before his inward eye, the little picture which used 




to interest his boyish mind lived again, and the hymn 
which it illustrated seemed to be spoken sweetly to his 
heart : — 

"And now another day is gone, 
I'll sing my Maker's praise." Etc. 

The tear started. He had seen many of his days go, but 
as yet his Maker had never heard an even-song from his 
lips or from his heart. What an ungrateful life his had 
been! The l remembrance was grevious/ But his heart 
was broken, and there and then the softened man made 
his vows of return to God, and offered the prayer which 
was answered in blessings which filled both the mornings 
and evenings of his mature life with hymns and songs 
of thanksgiving and praise." 

No instrumentality has been so efficient in calling 
forth and stimulating thehosannas of children as Sunday 
schools. The start and perpetuity of this institution as 
a system is generally accredited to Robert Raikes, of 
Gloucester, England. Says he: "The beginning of this 
scheme was entirely owing to accident. Some business 
leading me one morning into the suburbs of the city, 
where the lowest of the people reside, I was struck with 



V 



20 



Origin of Sunday Schools. 



concern at seeing a group of children, wretched and 
ragged, at play in the street. 

"Speaking to a woman, said she: ' Ah! sir, could you 
take a view of this part of the town on a Sunday, you 
would be shocked indeed, for then the street is filled 
with multitudes of these wretches, who, released that 
day from employment, spend their time in noise and 
riot, playing at chuck, and cursing and swearing, as to 
convey to any serious mind an idea of hell rather than 
of any other place." 

This led to the employment of four Sunday school 
teachers, whom he engaged to pay each a shilling 
(twenty-four cents) for their day's work. 

Mr. Raikes once remarked, "When I was re- 
volving the subject of Sunday schools in my thoughts, 
the word try was so powerfully impressed upon my 
mind that it impelled me to action." He then added, 
" I can never pass by the spot where the word try came 
so powerfully into my mind, without lifting up my heart 
and hands to Heaven, in gratitude to God, for having 
put such a thought into my heart." At another time 
he writes: " My eldest boy was born the very day that 
I made public to the world the scheme of Sunday 
schools, in my paper of Nov. 3, 1783. In four years' 
time it has extended so rapidly, as now to include two 
hundred and fifty thousand children. It is increasing 
more and more; it reminds me of the grain of mustard 
seed." • 

How Mr. Raikes would now be enraptured could he 
but listen to the entire world echoing with Sunday school 
songs, and behold the millions simultaneously engaged 
in the study of the same lessons. 

The Rev. Dr. Belcher states the singular fact that 
"Mr. Raikes's first thorough conviction of sin, and his 
first approach to the cross of Christ for mercy, was the 



r 



Opposition to Sunday Schools. 



23 



Q 



result of reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah to a 
little girl, one of his own Sunday school scholars. So 
marvelously does the blessed God work in the accom- 
plishment of his greatest designs." 

While seeking that which was lost, our Saviour was 
wont at times to take new and untrodden paths, when, it 
is said, his followers "murmured." The introduction 
of Sunday schools was saluted with similar murmurs. 

At a conference of ministers held in London the op- 
ponents argued that it was a desecration of the Lord's 
day. One wrote in 1794, that " no single instance of 
moral improvement has occurred to distinguish any of the 
Sunday school children from others; " and then closes 
by asking, "How can the Divine Being give a blessing 
to an institution which appears contrarv to his revealed 
will?" 

Even in our own day the novelty of the Sabbath school 
has awakened singular opposition. 

About the year 1854, a young evangelical minister 
proposed to introduce a Sunday school in a section of 
Pennsylvania, not fifty miles from Philadelphia, when, 
some of his members regarding it as an innovation upon 
the good old customs of their fathers, not only bitterly 
opposed it, but went so far as to threaten their pastor 
with personal violence while he was addressing the child- 
ren from the church altar. At length they drove the 
children from the church and scattered the books upon 
the road. A law-suit ensued, in which the oppo- 
nents of the school took the ground that the charter stated 
that there should be nothing in the church but preaching. 
For this reason the jury decided in their favor. After 
gaining the suit they dragged a cannon a distance often 
miles, and placing it aside of the church, fired it off" a 
whole half day, as a jubilee of their victory in having 
tumbled the Sunday school out of church. 




W 



24 



Sunday School Jubilee. 



^g' 



In 1829, James Montgomery, the Christian poet, 
wrote: "It has occurred to me that a Sunday school Ju- 
bilee in the year 1831, fifty years from the origin of Sun- 
day schools might be the means of extraordinary and 
happy excitement to the public mind in favor of these 
institutions." 

This proposal met with general approval, and the 
Jubilee was arranged for September 14th, 1831, the an- 
niversary of Raikes's birth. This proved to be one of 
the most interesting epochs connected with the history 
of Sunday schools. 

We give herewith one of the hymns written for this 
occasion by Mr. Montgomery. It was not only sung 
by the tens of thousands on the day of Jubilee, but has 
mingled with the glad hosannas of children ever since. 

" Hosanna be the children's song, 
To Christ the children's king 
His praise to whom our souls belong, 
Let all the children sing. 
" From little ones to Jesus brought 
Hosanna now be heard; 
Let infants at the breast be taught, 
To lisp that lovely word. 

"Hosanna here, in joyful bands, 
Maidens and youths proclaim, 
And hail with voices, hearts, and hands 
The Son of David's name. 

u Hosanna sound from hill to hill, 
And spread from plain to plain, 
"While louder, sweeter, clearer still, 
Woods echo to the strain. 

"Hosanna, on the wings of light, 
O'er earth and ocean fly, 
Till morn to eve, and noon to night, 
And heaven to earth reply. 

"The city to the country call, 
Let realm with realm accord; 
And this their watchword, one and all— 
Hosanna, praise the Lord. 



£ 



Sunday School Jubilee. 



25 




c: 



"Hosanna, then, our song shall be- 
Hosanna to our King; 
This is J.he children's Jubilee 
Let all the children sing.'' 




JUBILEE GATHERING AT EXETER HALL. 

The grand Jubilee meeting was held in Exeter Hall, 
London. This vast building, so widely known on ac- 
count of the many religious anniversaries held within its 
walls, was never more crowded, or the scene of greater 
euth isiasni than on this, memorable occasion. 

The Right Honorable Lord Henley, who officiated as 
chairman, said: "This meeting exceeds, in point of num- 
bers, any that I have ever seen, — exceeds, as I am sure 
it does, in knowledge and intelligence and in Christian 
spirit, every meeting which I have ever beheld before 
collected within the walls of an assembly. " 




26 



William B. Bradbury. 



C 



song, 



William B. Bradbury. 

HE extensive interest aud warm enthusiasm now 
manifested in Sunday schools is largely to be attrib- 
uted to the prominent place given to song — lively 
adapted to the quick motion and sprightly ex- 
pression so natural to the young. Children live and move 
in a world of thought, peculiarly their own. " When I 
was a child," says the Apostle, "I spake as a child, I 
understood as a child, I thought as a child." Hvmns 
suited to the "thought" of children were provided by 
Watts, Charles Wesley, Hill, Montgomery and others, 
but they had no musical tongue given them, so as to 
speak with the voice of childhood, till the days of Wil- 
liam B. Bradbury. The memory of his name will be 
endeared to millions of the present generation as the 
pioneer in Sunday school song. 

He was born in York, York county, Maine, October 
6, 1816. Although from early life he was specially fond 
of music, vet until the age of seventeen he was unable to 
devote much time to its study. After many struggles, 
owing to his straitened circumstances, he was enabled at 
length, through the assistance of some kind friends, to 
attend the Academy of Music at Boston, in charge of 
Dr. Lowell Mason and his coadjutor, George J. Webb, 
who at that time stood at the head of the musical celeb- 
rities of New England. 

"About this time," says Mr. T. F. Seward, "an in- 
cident occurred which was a source of great mortification 
to the young enthusiast. His parents, both of them old 
fashioned singers, were, of course, greatly interested in his 
progress. He went home from the school one night, full 
of ardor and excitement, and undertook to give them 
an example of the new method of singing and beating 
time. His gestures were so extravagant, swinging his 



W 




WILLIAM B: BRADBURY. 



Early disappointments. 



29 



"•f 



arm nearly its whole length, that his parents were far 
more amused than edified. However, they restrained 
therr mirth, not wishing to check their son's enthusiasm, 
but at last the scene became too much for them, and they 
burst into a peal of unresistible laughter. This was too 
much for the eager pei former. His rapture was turned 
into fiery indignation, and slamming his book shut in a 
rage, he declared that they knew nothing at all about 
music, and marched out of the room. 

Another mental shower-bath occurred in connection 
with his first appointment for a singing-school. After 
the issue of many circulars and stirring advertisements, 
he anticipated a great crowd, when, at the appointed time, 
not a single soul was there to greet his arrival. After 
a while a young man made his appearance, and still later 
five others came to witness the mortification of the am- 
bitious young teacher, who sat on the platform in a 
clammy perspiration, " inwardly longing for some blessed 
knot-hole through which he might disappear." This 
magnificent fizzle is spoken of as of great value to him 
in bringing him down from the clouds and of more real 
service than a grand success would have been. Through 
the influence of Dr. Mason, his former teacher, he secured 
a position as teacher of singing-schools at Machias, in 
Maine, and afterwards in St. Johns, New Brunswick. 

At length a position was given him as music teacher, 
in the 1st Baptist Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., and later 
in the Baptist Tabernacle in New York City. 

In 1841, he turned his attention to the children, and 
first held his free singing classes which became so very 
popular. It was a thrilling scene at his annual " Juven- 
ile Musical Festivals," to behold a thousand children on 
a gradually rising platform, — the girls clad in white with 
a white wreath and blue sash, and the boys in jackets, 
with collars turned over in Byron style. 




c 



30 



Bradbury's Publications. 




These efforts among the young gave him great celeb- 
rity, a host of warm friends, and led him eventually into 
his life work of providing Sunday school song for the 
countless millions. And if, as it is said, he who makes 
the ballads of a nation has mightier power than he who 
makes its laws, how far reaching must be the sweep of 
his undying influence. Some estimate may be formed 
from the fact that over three million copies of his 
" Golden Trio:"—" Golden Chain; 1 " Golden Shower," 
and " Golden Censer" have been issued, and yet these 
form but a small part of the number of his publications as 
will appear from the subjoined list: 

1841 Young Choir * 11856 Sabbath School Choir. 

1843 School Singer, or Young 1856 Cantata of Esther. 
Choir's Companion.* 18S6 Musical Bouquet. $ 



1844 Psalmodist.f 

1844 Social Singing Book. 

1845 Young Melodist. 
1847 Flora's Festival. 

1847 New York Choralist.J 

1849 Musical Gems. 

1849 Mendelssohn Collection.! 

1850 Alpine Glee Singer. 

1850 S. S. Melodies. 

1851 Psalmista.f 

1852 The Seasons. 
1852 Singing Bird. 

1852 Metropolitan Glee Book. 

1853 Shawm. % 

1854 Book for Boys' and Girls' 

Meetings. 

1855 Young Shawm. 

1855 New York Glee and Cho- 
rus Book. 



1857 Jubilee. 

1859 Cottage Melodies.** 

1859 Oriola. 

1800 Eclectic Tune Book. 

1860 Bradburv's Anthem Book 

1861 The Golden Chain. 

1861 The Carol. 

1862 The Golden Shower. 

1863 Key Note. 

1863 Pilgrims' Songs.** 

1864 Devotional Hymn and 

Tune Book.** 

1865 Plvmouth Collection** 

1866 Golden Hvmns.** 

1867 Clariona.** 

186T Songs of Praise.** 

1861 The^Golden Censer.** 

18G7 Fresh Laurels.** 

1867 The Temple Choir. j| 



Thus it will appear that in twenty-six years he was 
instrumental, with the assistance of others, in bringing 



* In connection w th Mr. C. W. Sanders. 

t In connection with Dr Thomas Hastings. 

i In connection with Dr. Hastings, Mr. G. F. Koot and Mr' T, B, Mason, 

§ In oonnection with Mr. C <\ Converse, 

** Iu connection with Mr Sylvester Main. 

|| In connection with Dr, Lowell Mason and Mr, Theodore F, Seward, 



w 



Revolution in Music. 



31 




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out no less than forty different publications. It was re- 
gretted by many that some of his earlier works did 
not contain a higher standard of poetry. But then it 
must be remembered that this was a transition period in 
the musical history of our country. "The mind of the 
public," says Mr. Seward, " had just undergone a com- 
plete reaction. From the almost exclusive use of plain 
church tunes in the exercise of the Sunday school, there 
begun to be a general adoption of street melodies of every 
description, from ' Co-co-che-lunk ? to ' We wont go home 
till morning ;' and theie is no doubt but that Mr. Brad- 
bury's music was the barrier by which the fearful tide was 
stopped. He expressly states that the ' Golden Chain' 
was compiled with that special object in view." 

In 1847, Mr. Bradbury w r entto Europe to perfect his 
knowledge of music under the tuition of the best German 
masters. While crossing the Alps, he relates this in- 
cident: Having met a German, who was so enraptured, 
as he beheld the Alpine peaks bathed with the golden 
glories of the rising sun, that he sang aloud for joy. " Not 
wishing," says Mr. Bradbury, "to be outdone by a 'for- 
especially in my own profession, I commenced 
} This captivated the 'foreigner* so that he 
would notrest till he was taught the same pieces. " This," 
Mr. Bradbury quaintly adds, " was the only music-lesson 
I gave on the top of the Alps." 

When about fifteen years of age he became a member 
of the Charles St. Baptist Church, Boston, Mass., under 
the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Sharp. While settled in 
New York he united with the Baptist Tabernacle. For 
many years, in the latter part of his life, he stood in con- 
nection with the Presbyterian* Church of Bloomfield, 
N. J. His widow, in furnishing the writer with these facts, 
adds: "He was not strictly sectarian in his views, often 
saying he belonged to the 'children's church/ meaning 




eigner, 
singing. 



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32 



Bradbury's death. 




C 



that wherever he could meet with the children and do 
them good he felt at home." 

The following is a specimen of one of his many acts of 
generosity : A theological student once wrote to Mr. Brad- 
bury for a loan of five dollars, that he might buy himself a 
pair of boots. By return of mail he received Mr. Brad- 
bury's check for twenty-five dollars, and a note saying that 
he did not feel able to spare him the five dollars, but that 
he might manage to get along with the twenty-five for 
the present r and until he could accommodate him with 
the five dollars. 

The strain of music that he composed to " Sweet hour of 
prayer," was but the sweet echo of his own experience. 

In the rear of his ware-rooms in New York, was a 
small office,, where he was wont to "renew his strength" 
and "mount up with wings as eagles." Whenever, with 
the cars, he had to leave his home without having had 
sufficient time for his closet duties, it is said, he never 
failed to repair at once to this little private sanctuary 
and spend some time in his devotions. Nor would he 
permit any pressure of business to break in upon this 
habit. His much-loved Bible occupied a prominent place 
on the table, and was well worn and filled with marked 
passages that had become luminous in his own experience. 
In his private journal he wrote, "The 37th Psalm has 
been to me a never-failing source of comfort and conso- 
lation. My little Bible frequently opens to it of its own 
accord. The 27th is also a favorite when the enemy 
comes in like a flood." 

Mr. Bradbury ended his fifty-two years of a busy life 
on the 7th of January, 1868. For two years previous 
he suffered from the lingering torments of consumption. 
A few weeks before his death he said to Mr. Seward, in 
accents of touching pathos, " I long to be free from this 
evil Ixxly, which does so much to drag me down. I 




1 



Ey 



The children's offering. 



33 



feel that I want to do right, that I want to love my 
Saviour, and act to plea.se Him, but this busy brain and 
hasty nature lead me oftentimes to things that are con- 
trary to the real feelings of my heart." 

He need no longer express such desires or sing to his 
much loved song, "Sweet hour of prayer," the words: — 

"This robe of flesh I'll drop, and rise 
To seize the everlasting prize." 

His longing desires have ended in joyful fruitions. 

Some of the sweet melodies that Mr. Bradbury set 
afloat in his life accompanied him in his descent to the 
dark valley, and folllowed him in his ascent to the skies. 

The night he passed away some of the brethren, who 
had convened for a prayer-meeting, sang with much 
feeling the appropriate lines from the " Golden Censer:" — 

" We are going, we are going, 
To a home beyond the skies, 
Wli3re the fields^re robed in beauty, 
And the sunlight never dies." 

These words were sung again by the dear children as 
they stood around his cold remains at the funeral. 

A week before his death the children of Montclair 
paid him a visit and each brought him an oak leaf, which 
was woven into a beautiful wreath. At his funeral it 
was laid on his coffin and buried with him in his grave. 

Well has a friend said, "His triumphs began and 
ended with the children of whom he was passionately 
fond." Among Mr. Bradbury's earliest and best pieces 
was the one so often sung on funeral occasions, and so well 
fitted to give expression to the words: — 

" Asleep in Jesus ; blessed sleep, 
From which none ever wakes to weep, 
A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes." 

This was sung while the cold body of his mother lay 




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31 



Tribute to Bradbury. 



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" asleep in Jesus, " and now also, as by his own request, 

his clay was being buried by her side. The Saturday 

before his death he remarked to a friend, "My soul 

seems to have gained the victory. I am so happy now. 

I rest wholly upon Christ. May God give me grace to 

die. I am going to see mother." Now, while he and 

his sainted mother were blending their voices with the 

ransomed host above, the funeral attendants below were 

singing with plaintive voices and tear-bathed cheeks: — 

" .Asleep in Jesus ; how sweet 

To be for such a slumber meet; 
With holy confidence to sing, 

That death has lost its venomed sting. 

After the singing of these words, the Rev. Dr. Hastings 
of New York, son of the eminent composer, Dr. Thomas 
Hastings, paid a beautiful tribute to Mr. Bradbury's 
memory, and said that he well remembered the first 
manuscript of the hymn just sung, as he saw it in his 
father's household, while Mr. Bradbury was associated 
with his father in musical composition. The music was 
inspired by the hymn. They were married together, so 
that they could never be divorced in the Christian's 
heart and memory during coming generations. Mr. 
Bradbury shall cause hearts to live and sing when stars 
and worlds are no more. No friend can desire a nobler 
monument than is raised for him in Sabbath schools, 
homes and church, where the gospel is preached and 



sung. 



>■> 



After these remarks the children sang another of Mr. 

Bradbury's pieces from the "Fresh Laurels:" — 

" Above the waves of earthly strife, 
Above the ills and cares of life 
Where all is peaceful, bright and fair, 
My home is there, my home is there." 

Before the last look upon the pale face was taken, the 
choir sung a voluntary of Mr. Bradbury's composition : — 



1/ 



Bradbury continued. 



35 



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11 Let me go where saints are going, 
To the mansions of the blest," 

after which the remains were removed to the hillside 
in the Bloomfield Cemetery, beside his much-loved 
mother, there to rest till " time shall be no longer." 

While passing under the rod of affliction in his last 
days, he prepared some of his best pieces that were " like 
crushed flowers, fragrant with the odors of heaven." 

The "Fresh Laurels," his last Sunday school book, 
he prepared, while, as he expressed it, he was gathering 
about him his robes for his upward flight. 

How appropiiate the words of one of his last songs : — 

" I am waiting by the ri\ er, 

And my heart has waited long ; 
Now I think. I hear the chorus 

Of the angels' welcome song; 
Oh, I see the dawn is breaking 
On the hill-tops of the blest, 
11 Where the wicked cease from troubling, 
And the weary are at rest." 

In the preface to the "Fresh Laurels," hs says: 
"Though the voice of the author of these songs of praise 
is silent, he has the satisfaction of knowing that multi- 
tudes of other and sweeter voices will take them up and 
echo them throughout the land." As one million and 
three hundred thousand copies of this book have been 
sold, surely this wish has been fully realized. 

Five days before his departure he was in an ecstacy of 
delight, which continued till consciousness was gone. 
Again and again he wished to have repeated the beauti- 
ful descriptions of heaven, given in the last two chapters 
of Revelation, when he would exclaim: "What have I 
done that I should have such delightful assurance and 
comfort." As he was going up to be robed in white, he 
did not wish his friends to attire themselves in black for 
him, or to mourn his departure. 




36 



Miss Sidney P. Gill's hymn. 



C 



Origin of " I want to be an angel. " 

tT is a singular coincidence that the similar utterances 
of two children should occasion two hymns about the 
same time on the same subject. 

Dr. Prime wrote for the New York Observer y of which 
he is senior editor, the incident given below, April 5. 
1845. This was turned into verse by Park Benjamin. 

A child sat in the door of a cottage at the close of a 
summer Sabbath. The twilight was fading, and as the 
shades of evening darkened, one after another of the stars 
stood in the sky, and looked down on the child in his 
thoughtful mood. He was looking up at the stars and 
counting them as they came, till they were too many 
to be counted, and his eyes wandered all over the heav- 
ens, watching the bright worlds above. They seemed 
just like "holes in the floor of heaven to let the glory 
through, " but he knew better. Yet he loved to look up 
there, and was so absorbed, that his mother called to him : 

"My son, what are you thinking of?" 

He started as if aroused from sleep, and answered : 

" I was thinking n 

"Yes." said his mother, "I know you were thinking, 



but what were you thinking about? " 

"Oh," said he, and his little eyes sparkled with the 
thought, "I want to be an angel." 

"And why, my son, would you be an angel?" 

" Heaven is up there, is it not, mother ? and there the 
angels live and love God, and are happy; I do wish I 
was good, and God would take me there, and let me 
wait on him forever." 

The mother called him to her knee, and he leaned on 
her bosom and wept. She wept too, and smoothed the 
soft hair of his head as he stood there, and kissed his 
forehead, and then told him that if he would give his 



Miss GilVs hymn, concluded. 



37 




heart to God, now while he was young, that the Saviour 
would forgive all his sins and take him up to heaven 
when he died, and he would then be with God forever. 
His young heart was comforted. He knelt at his 
mother's side and said : — 

"Jesus, Saviour, Son of God, 

Wash me in ihy precious blood; 
I thy little lamb would be, 

Help me, Lord, to look to thee. " 

The mother took the young child to his chamber and 
soon he was asleep, dreaming perhaps of angels and 
heaven, A few months afterwards sickness was on him, 
and the light of that cottage, the joy of that mother's 
heart, went out. He breathed his last in her arms, and 
as he took her parting kiss, he whispered in her ear : — 

" I want to be an angel. " 

Just two weeks after the publication of the above, Miss 
Sidney P. Gill wrote the hymn which, for nearly thirty 
years, has been so popular in Europe and America. 
It took its rise in the infant school of the Clinton Street 
Presbyterian Sabbath-School of Philadelphia, which was 
taught by Miss Gill. 

On the Sabbath, previous to its composition, she was 
speaking to her little infants about heaven picturing its 
beauties and glories, the blessedness of being there with 
"a crown upon the forehead, a harp within the hand," 
when a little dark-eyed girl, about five years of age, 
became so enraptured that she unconsciously clasped her 
hands together, and looking wistfully into her teacher's 
face, exclaimed aloud, "O, I want to be an angel." 

That week this little scholar, Annie Louisa Farrand, 
took sick and died. Miss Gill at once wrote the hymn, 
on the next Sunday taught it to her scholars, and millions 
of infant voices have since been singing, — 

" I want to be an angel. " 




c 



w 



38 



Lydia Baxter. 




C 



Mrs. Lydia Baxter. 

SSOCIATED with some of our most popular Sunday 

school hymns is the name of Mrs. Lydia Baxter. 

The many, who for years have been singing her 

words : — 

u Take the name of Jesus with you, 
Child of sorrow and of woe," 

" There is a gate that stands ajar, 

And through its portals gleaming," 

will be pleased to read the following sketch of her life, 
prepared for this volume by her former pastor, the Rev. 
Thomas Armitage, D. D. 

This saintly woman was born in the town of Peters- 
burgh, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Sept. 2nd, 1809. She be- 
came a disciple of Christ while very young, under the 
labors of the Rev. Eber Tucker, a Baptist home mission- 
ary, and soon evinced her healthful influence in her 
native town, by the fact that her conversion, in connection 
with that of her younger sister, led to the organization 
of a Baptist Church in that place. There she was edu- 
cated, and became a successful Sabbath school teacher. 

After her marriage to Col. John C. Baxter, the rest 
of her life was spent in the city of New York, where she- 
died, June 22, 1874. Principally through her holy 
influence her husband was brought to Christ, not many 
years after their marriage, and for more than a gen- 
eration, she was known in her home, and in all the Christ- 
ian circles of the city, as a refined, tender and hallowed 
lady. In person, she was slightly built, but compact 
and comely, and her manners were very sprightly [and 
winning, so that her society was much appreciated by all 
classes. For nearly thirty years she was an invalid, 
much of the time a prisoner at home, and often the vic- 
tim of excruciating pain. Yet, in the midst of so much 




w 




vHJF 



LYDIA BAXTER. 



Lydia Baxter continued. 



41 



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to render her life pensive, and even sombre, seldom did 
a shade of sadness pass over her heart or house. On the 
contrary, her quaint humor, a sharp eye for the ludicrous, 
with the quiet power of story and repartee, were constant 
sources of light-heartedness to all around her. Hence, 
pastors, missionaries, Sunday school laborers, and per- 
sons of literary tastes, loved to spend a cheerful hour in 
her company. She was a close student of nature and 
the Bible. A clear, ringing, gospel truth ever found 
a joyful welcome to her heart, and the simple, the beau- 
tiful, the sublime in nature, ever created a feast to her 
eye. The delicious scenery of her country home had 
educated her to a love of birds and flowers, in all their 
refining persuasiveness. One of her chief joys was the 
culture of rare and delicate plants, and she acquired the 
happy art of so arranging the petals and leaves of flowers, 
in the making of artificial birds and other objects, as to 
leave the impression that all the hues of light and shade 
in their delicate blendings were real, and that you had 
the fascinating reality before your eyes. Her rooms were 
hung with such specimens of her own handiwork, and 
many such precious mementoes still adorn the homes 
of her friends. With a body as weak as a bruised reed, 
and constantly suffering, her soul was as blithe, her heart 
as young, and her fingers as active, as if she spent her 
days in the flush of vigor and youth. This winsome 
buoyency evinced itself in the fact that the young were 
constantly attached to her, and in return for their love 
she lavished upon them her wonderfully pure, sensitive, 
and pathetic poetic inspirations. 

For many years it was her custom to present the Sun- 
day schools of New York with one or more anniversary 
hymns, in May, which were generally sung in the various 
churches with great zest. Usually, she kept her room 
or bed while they were making our metropolitan sane- 



1/ 



42 



Lydia Baxter continued. 




tuaries ring with the praises which she had framed for 
their lips. But once the wiiter saw her on such an oc- 
casion, steal quietly into a church, pale and weary, to 
hear the children sing one of her own hymns. And it 
was touching in the extreme to see the tears follow each 
other, in great round drops down her cheek, her very 
heart weeping for joy, while her voice was unable to 
join them in a single note. Her productions show that 
she was endowed with a high degree of poetic ability, 
and she sanctified all its revelations, at the Saviour's feet 
to the salvation of the young. Hence, there are few 
Sunday schools in our land where her ennobling verses 
are not sung every Lord's day, and they are quite as 
well known in Great Britain as in America. A caged 
songster herself, she sung for the outside world. 

A volume of her chaste poems, entitled "Gems by the 
Wayside," was published in 1855, and had a large sale, 
while recently, many of her productions have had an 
immense circulation in connection with the labors of 
Messrs Moody and San key. Some of those which are 
the best known are these : — 

11 We are coming, blessed Saviour," 
" On the banks beyond the river," 
" The angel boatman," 
11 The Precious Name," 
"The Gate Ajar," 

"0! shall I wear a starless crown," 
" By the gate they'll meet us," 
" The bright hills of glory." 

When Messrs Moody and Sankev were in Scotland, 
her hymn "Gate Ajar," contributed largely to the power 
of the revival scenes, and was sung to the comfort of 
many thousands, both in the highlands and in the low- 
lands. Millions of hearts have been touched by the 



c 



Lydia Baxter continued. 



43 




story of poor Maggie Lindsay of Aberdeen, in association 
with this hymn, given on the following pages. The 
knowledge of these facts gave Mrs. Baxter great conso- 
lation in the last struggles of her own life, and probably 
moved her to write her last hymn, entitled, "One more 
song for Jesus :" — 

" One more song: I'll sing for Jesus, 
Once again his love repeat; 
Though my earthly harp is broken 
Love still makes its numbers sweet. 

Chorus. 

"Oh ! 'tis sweet to love my Master, 
Sweet His precious love to tell; 
But I hear the angels whisper 
I must bid farewell, farewell 1 

u Oh ! improve life's precious moment 
To secure the heavenly prize ; 
Jesus made a full atonement, — 
'Twas a costly sacrifice. 

" Standing on the verge of Jordan 
1 can hear its waters roll ; 
But beyond, the light is golden, 
A.nd it beems upon my soul. 

"Faith beholds a sea of glory, 
And the pearly gates appear ; 
Gentle breezes float around me, 
Oh ! the portals must be near." 

She made no mention of this sweet hymn until the 
day before her death, when she presented it to the family, 
asking that it might be read before them all. 

Mrs. Baxter had been chastened by many afflictions 
in her family as well as in her person, not the least of 
which was the sudden death of a married son, whom she 
dearly loved, and who was worthy "of her in his devotion 
to Christ, and his whole household, as well as to his 
mother. She was a remarkable woman, and her mem- 




ory with her works is blessed indeed. 



r 



)) 



44 



3Irs. Lydia Baxter's hymn. 



"For me! For me! For me!" 




C 



r^ 

ft: HESE were the dying words sung by Maggie Lind- 
@ say of Aberdeen, Scotland. An account furnished 
The Sunday School Times gives the following inter- 
esting particulars : She was brought to Christ on the 
last night of 1873, during the great revival in Edinburgh. 
Meeting her pastor some days afterwards, she told him 
the secret of her joyful looks. 

At parting they knelt together, and when the man of 
God asked, "For what shall we pray?" she replied, 
"That I may have more faith, and remain steadfast." 
When her governess returned after several days' absence, 
Maggie was impatient to tell of her new-found joy, and 
came to her room with the message that she had good 
news to tell her. "Ah, I know what it is, Maggie, be- 
fore you tell me, you have found Jesus, is not that it?" 
"Yes, my feet are on the rock," said she, as she went on 
to tell the joyous story of Jesus' love to her. She seemed 
powerfully impressed by the oft-repeated hymn: — 

" There is a gate that stands ajar, 
And through its portal gleaming 

A radiance from the Cross afar, 
The Saviour's love revealing. 

Oh depth of mercy ! can it be 

That gate was left ajar for me ? " 

January 27, 1874, she spent her last evening in Edin- 
burgh with her governess and sister, and on returning 
from the meeting, the latter said to her, "Maggie, I am 
to give you a text on leaving us; it is one of the words 
of Jesus, ' Lo, I am with you alway. '" The next 
morning she took the train for Aberdeen. A fearful 
railroad collision took place, Maggie was left for sev- 
eral hours lying on the bank. She was at last taken up 
on a stretcher, and removed to a cottage near by. It was 
supposed she was reading her much-loved hymn, as the 



1 



Lydia Baxter's hymn concluded. 



45 



r 



leaf was turned down to the words, "The gate ajar for 
me," and the pages of the book were stained with her 
own heart's blood. Lying on that stretcher, with both 
limbs broken, a fractured skull, and other internal injur- 
ies, she could yet sing with bleeding lips the hymn : — 

'• Nothing either great or small, 
Remains for me to do ; 
Jesus died and paid it all, 
Yes, all the debt I owe. '■ 

And then after that, 

" Oh depth of morcy ! can it be 

That gate stands open wide for me?" 

"Forme! for me I for mei" she sang plaintively, to 
the uncontrollable emotion of those who were beside her. 

Amid all her sufferings she never murmured. Her 
chief concern was for the effect which the sight of her 
poor scarred face would have on her mother, who could 
not reach her before seven in the evening. She was 
twelve hours alone among strangers; "alone — yet not 
alone, " she said, " for Jesus is here ! He has been with 
me alway. He has kept his word. n 

At last, unable to utter another word whenever a hymn 
was sung, there was a gurgling sound in her throat, as if 
she was trying to join in the song of praise. 

Mr. Sankey, writing of her says : " I am persuaded that 
already the story of her patient suffering and triumphant 
death has been the means under God of bringing some 
to the feet of Jesus; and that the sweet testimony which 
she bore, even while her feet were passing through the 
cold waters of Jordan, ' Jesus has kept his word' will 
cheer many a pilgrim on the way to that city which hath 
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 

" ' Faith a golden vision brings us 

Of that pure transcendent shore, 
Where the blest shall walk with Jesus 
Robed in white forevermore, ' " 



! 



46 



Henry Hope's hymn concluded. 



*f 



c 



One Who Could not Sing " Jesus is mine. " 

u Now I have found a Friend, 

Jesus is mine ; 
His love shall never end, 

Jesus is mine. 
Though earthly joys decrease, 
Though human friendships cease, 
Now I have lasting peace, 

Jesus is mine ! " 

§HIS hymn was issued in 1852 by Henry Hope of 
Belfast, Ireland. After the singing of it in Dublin, 
Iiev. Denham Smith, while speaking on the value of 
hymns gave in substance the following touching incident : 

A little boy, about four years old, came one day where 
a group of young converts were singing this hymn. Im- 
mediately the little fellow stood still, with closed lips, a 
very unusual thing with him, and when asked why he 
did not sing, he said he could not sing, for Jesus was nut 
his; but he said, "Will you pray for me, for I want to 
know. Jesus as mine. " 

When he went home his mother said to his sisters, 
"Let us sing two or three other hymns, and then ' Jesus 
is mine/ and then perhaps he will sing it too;" so they 
sang several others, and the little fellow caroled away at 
the top of his voice, until they commenced : — 

" Now I have found a friend, 
Jesus is mine. " 

His lips again closed,* and in a voice of craving sorrow, 
turning to his mamma, he said, "Ah, mamma, why do 
you ask me to sing that? I cannot sing that, for Jesus 
is not mine." 

When his father came home in the evening and heard 
it, he said : " Oh, it must be fancy in the child ; a good 
night's sleep will wear it away; he is too young to know 
much of the reality of such things. " So he went to bed, 




u 



Henry Hope's hymn. 



47 



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and next morning when the father opened the door, what 
do you think he saw? There was the little one standing 
in his night-clothes, looking a perfect picture of anxiety 
and inquiry. He said, " Dear papa, is not the day after 
to-morrow Friday ? " " Yes, my child. " " And papa, 
will there not be a prayer-meeting on Friday?" "Yes, 
my child." "Then, papa, will you not ask them to 
pray for me, that I may be able to sing, ' Jesus is Mine, ' 
for I have been looking for Jesus, but I cannot find him ; 
Jesus is not mine. " His papa promised that he would 
have him prayed for. 

Wednesday came, and Thursday, and at last Friday ; 
but he could not say, " Jesus is mine ; " and mid the en- 
gagements of the day, the father actually forgot his own 
child. Toward the end of the meeting, the congregation 
rose and sungj : — 

" Now I have found a Friend, 
Jesus is mine. " 

It happened that the father was in one part of the church 
and his little boy in another ; and as they sung, the little 
fellow wended his way through the crowded aisles and 
groups of young converts, till he reached the father, and 
resting his hands upon his knees, he burst into tears, 
saying, " Dear papa, I have found Jesus ! Jesus is mine ! " 
Sweet is the young love of that child. It is twelve 
months ago since he found Jesus, and he can still, with 
many other happy ones of his circle, joyfully sing : 

»' Tm a pilgrim bound for glory ; 
I'm a pilgrim going home ; 
Come and hear me tell the story 
All that love the Saviour, come. 

" When first I commenced my journey, 
Many said, ' He'll turn again ; 
But they all have been deceived ; 
In the way I still remain. ' " 




D 



48 



Philip P. Bliss. 




C 



Philip P. Bliss. 

fUT few hymns of late years have been more effective 
in deciding the destiny of souls, or more frequently 
sung in times of religious awakening than the one 
commencing : — 

" c Almost persuaded,' now to believe : 
'Almost persuaded,' Christ to receive.*' 

Many, we are sure, will be glad to form a more intimate 
acquaintance with the author of these words and music. 
On the opposite page will be seen his friendly counte- 
nance, which speaks for itself and bears the impress 
of a soul consecrated to the joyous work of the Lord. 

Mr. Philip P. Bliss was born in Clearfield county, 
Pennsylvania, July 9th, 1838. His religious experience 
illustrates the power of home influence, in that he was 
"bora again" before he was five years old. In fact, he 
says he cannot remember when he was not^a child of 
God, a believer in Jesus Christ. At the age of twelve 
he was baptized, and united with the Baptist Church of 
Cherry Flatts, Tioga county, Pa., the only church 
organization convenient to his home at that time. His 
parents were Methodists; and at family worship, prayer- 
meeting, and camp-meeting revivals, he first imbibed the 
love of song, and received his first musical impressions. 

Since 1865, Mr. Bliss has been a resident of Chicago, 
and for a number of years an active member of the First 
Congregational Church, under the pastorate of the Rev. 
Dr. Goodwin. 

One of his first published songs was a tribute'to the 
memory of his teacher, Wni. B. Bradbury, entitled, 
" He's Gone." His first Sunday school singing-book was 
" The Charm" which had just gotten into market when 
the great Chicago fire destroyed the plates and dimmed 
its lustre, at least in the eyes of the author. Mr. Bliss, 



1/ 




PHILIP P. BLISS. 



P. P. Bliss continued. 



51 




immediately after the fire, in company with Mr. Moody, 
started on a trip to Boston and other eastern cities, and 
held " Fire meetings," in aid of the suffering ones of the 
stricken city. While on this tour he missed the train 
of cars at Albany, and then wrote the "Fire Song" 
"Roll on, O Billow of Fire." 

Mr. Bliss is the author of the following works:— y 

"The Charm" published in 1871. 

" Song Tree," for concerts, etc. " 1872. 

u Joy," for choirs and classes " 1873. 

" Sunshine for Sunday schools " " 1873. 

"Gospel Songs for Gospel Meetings" " 1874. 

"Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs " " 1875. 

This last book was issued in conjunction with Mr. Ira 
D. Sankey, and as it is used in connection with the 
"Moody and Sankey meetings," it has met with an im- 
mense circulation. 

Mr. Bliss has united with Major D. W. Whittle in 
evangelistic labors in the same way as Mr. Sankey with 
Mr. Moody. In their first united efforts at Louisville, 
Kentucky, the seal of the divine approval was set upon 
their labors. The effective singing of Mr. Bliss and the 
earnest gospel utterances of Mr. Whittle drew out im- 
mense crowds. The whole city was swept by a wave of 
salvation. The twenty-four pastors who had extended 
an invitation to the evangelists found their hands full of 
work. The laro;e hall where thev met was marked off 
into twenty-four sections, each of which was put into 
charge of a pastor, who, with the assistanae of active 
laymen, devoted his attention to the inquirers, who 
came into his division. Similar success has since 
crowned their labors in other sections of the United 
States. 

Amon^ the many incidents illustrative of t\m hymns 
of Mr. Bliss we give the following: — 




V 



52 



P. P. Bliss continued. 



>4( 



"Seems now some soul to say, 
1 Go, Spirit, go Thy way, 
Some more convenient day 
On Thee I'll call.' " 

In closing a series of extra sermons in Canada, I took 
for my text the prayer of the perishing disciples on the 
Sea of Galilee, " Lord save; we perish" Mention was 
made of this prayer as being a timely one; because the 
disciples upon finding all efforts to save themselves fail, 
did not settle down in despair, but at once applied to 
Christ as the only source of help. 

The congregation was then urged upon to make im- 
mediate application to the same Saviour for mercy. 
Many responded to the call, and rose for prayer. It 
was a precious meeting. 

There was present that night a youth for whom many 
prayers had ascended. Night after night he had promised 
to yield himself to Christ, but as yet he had not done so. 
This was the last meeting of the course, and the village 
people being absorbed in the morrow's fair, we trembled 
lest John should be tempted, while with ungodly com- 
panions, to stifle his convictions. He seemed now anx- 
ious about his soul and, humanly speaking, he might 
never feel thus again. Prayer was offered for him es- 
pecially, and before it his strong frame was convulsed 
with feeling. 

For a time he seemed on the point of yielding himself 
to the claims of Christ, but suddenly becoming more 
calmed, he remarked with an air of indifference, that while 
he purposed sometime calling to Christ for aid he would 
not do so that night. 

Three months had hardly elapsed from that time when 
the writer, returning home from a distant engagement, 

was informed that John A was dangerously ill, 

that his life was despaired of, and that he had repeated- 



C 



& 



Illustration of Mr. Bliss' hymn. 



53 




C 



ly during our absence sent over for us. Soon we stood 
at his bedside, and although burning with fever and 
greatly exhausted, we found hiui with bitter tenacity 
clinging to life. Being informed of our presence, he 
turned his deathly eyes and looked pitifully at us. O, 
we shall never forget that look! "John," we inquired, 
"how is it with you now?" Burying his face in his 
pillow, he made no reply. " Can you not trust your soul 
with a merciful Saviour ? " we further inquired. After 
a painful pause, he groaned heavily but still did not 
reply. "Why, John," we again inquired with feelings 
of pain, " do you doubt Christ's willingness to save the 
chief of sinners?" He made an effort to answer but was 
at first choked with grief; we waited, however, and he 
dispairingly exclaimed, "Mr. C — my day is past, my 
vessel is sinking, yes sinking, almost gone." 

How bitterly he uttered the concluding words, " almost 
gone." Giving him a moment to recover himself we 
exhorted him to do at once as did the disciples, and 
call upon Christ for help. Making no reply, we were 
about to continue our remarks, when he suddenly ex- 
claimed with a voice that sent a thrill through every 
heart present, " O sir, call upon Christ, do you say ? 
Christ has left the vessel. 1 am sinking all alone." 
Pausing to recover strength, he continued, "It is no use 
trying now, it is too late, I could have been saved, but 
now I have no hope, Christ has left the ship." Thus 
he sank hopelessly in the waters of death. 

In this touching incident, furnished by the Rev. W, 
Codville, rings out the solemn truth in the last verse of 
the hymn of Mr. Bliss : — 

"'Almost persuaded,' harvest is past! 
'Almost persuaded,' doom comes at last! 
' Almost ' can not avail ; 
'Almost' is but to fail ! 
Sad, sad, that bitter 'wail — 
'Almost — but lost!" 




1 



54 



Fanny Crosby. 



Fanny J. Crosby. 

§HE world is indebted to four blind poets for some of 
the sweetest songs of the sanctuary. One of the 
grandest hymns of praise that has ever ascended to 
the skies is the following, which was written by the Rev. 
Thomas Blacklock, D. D., who lived his three score years 
and ten in total blindness. The hymn is now over a 
century old, and will doubtless find a place in the 
hymnody of the church until the last trump shall sound 
the end of time. It reads : — 

" Come, my soul ! in sacred lays, 
Attempt thy great Creator's praise ; 
But Oh ! what tongue can speak his fame? 
What mortal verse can reach the theme! 

"Enthroned amidst the radiant spheres, 
He glory, like a garment, wears ; 
To form a robe of light divine, 
Ten thousand suns around him shine. 

"In all our Maker's grand designs, 
Omnipotence with wisdom shines ; 
His works, through all this wondrous frame, 
Bear the great impress of his name. 

u Raised on devotion's lofty wing, 
Do thou, my soul ! his glories sing; 
And let his praise employ thy tongue, 
Till listening words applaud the song." 

John Milton, the world-renowned poet, a part of whose 
life was spent in blindness, wrote, when a boy of fifteen 
years of age, the Psalm that has been so oft repeated 
during the past two hundred and fifty years commencing, 

" Let us, with a gladsome mind, 
Praise the Lord, for He is kind. " 

The well-known hymn, "Sweet hour of prayer," was 
penned by the blind preacher, Rev. W. W. Walford 
who, sitting in darkness, could say from blest experience 



C 




FANNY J. CROSBY. 



Fanny J. Crosby continued. 



57 




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*' In seasons of distress and grief, 
My soul has often found relief, 
And oft escaped the tempter's snare, 
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer." 

No one in our day is doing more by means of her 
poetic pen to remove the scales from the blind eyes of 
sinners than the one whose likeness is given on a preced- 
ing page. No name is more familiar, or associated with 
more precious Sunday school hymns, than that of " Fanny 
Crosby." Although unable to see a line of one of her 
many hymns she has written; yet by and by she will 
surely behold a bright array of starry gems that they 
have gathered for the Saviour's crown. 

What pen can number the millions whose voices have 
risen in song while singing her hymns which begin : — 

''Safe in the arms of Jesus, 
Safe on his gentle breast, 
There by his love o'ershadowed, 
Sweetly my soul shall rest.'' 

" Puss me not, gentle Saviour, 
Hear my humble cry; 
While on others thou art smiling, 
Do not pass me by." 

Fanny J. Crosby was born at South East, Putman Co., 
New York, in 1823. When about six weeks old she 
lost her sight through cold and improper treatment. 
"A warm poultice," says she, "laid on my eyes did the 
mischief and caused the loss of sight in a moment." 
Early in life she seemed to have a keen sense of right 
and wrong, and also evinced that poetic talent by which 
she has gained so much celebrity in later years. Her 
first piece was written when only about eight years of 
age, and was entitled, " Elegy to a little Robin." When 
about twelve years old she came to New York City to 
be educated in the " Institution for the Blind." After 
pursuing her studies for seven years, she became a teacher 



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58 



Fanny J, Crosby continued. 



9^f 



in the same Institution, and was thus employed for eleven 
years. Here in 1844, she issued a volume, entitled: 
"The Blind Girl and other Poems;" in 1849, another 
work : " Monterey and other poems." 

In the fall of 1851, she united with the 30th Street 
Methodist E. Church, in charge of the Rev. John D. 
Black. Shortly previous, she was awakened from the 
death-sleep of sin, in an unusual manner, which she 
thus describes: — 

"My conversion was owing to a dream. I had a dear 
friend who was a devoted Christian man. After saying 
one night the Lord's prayer,I was thinking, while going 
asleep, how hard it was to say and feel, 'Thy will be 
done/ During my sleep, I dreamed that I was sum- 
moned to the death chamber of my friend. He looked 
up to me and said : i Fanny, can you give me up?' I 
said: 'No, I cannot, I'm afraid I cannot.' ' Why/ 
said he, ' would you chain a spirit to earth that longs to 
fly away and beat rest/ I replied, 'I cannot do it with 
my own strength, but by the grace of God assisting me, 
I will try.' He said : ' I want you to make me one prom- 
ise. Think w T ell before you make it, and remember you 
are making it to a dying man. Will you promise to 
meet me in heaven?' I paused for a moment, and look- 
ing in his face I said: 'I do promise to meet you in 
heaven.' A calm, unearthly radience spread over his 
face, his eyes closed and he passed away. I woke from 
my dream, and never rested till I found peace, and could 
sav from the heart, 'Thy will be done. This w r as in 
Oct. 1851." 

The experience of this " echo of the pure and holy 

throng" is well expressed in her sweet hymn, "The 

Bright Forever : " — 

'" Breaking through the clouds that gather 
O'er the christian's natal skies, 




I 



Fanny J. Crosby continued. 



59 




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Distant beams, like floods of glory, 

Fill our soul with glad surprise ; 
And we almost hear the echo 

Of the pure and holy throng, 
In the bright, the bright forever, 

In the summer-land of song. '■> 

Chorus : — 

On the banks beyond the river, 
We shall meet no more to sever; 

Iu the bright, the bright forever, 
In the summer-land of song.'' 

In 1858, she was married to Mr. Alexander Van 
Alstyne, who is the author of some choice pieces of music, 
and possessed quite a musical talent. Mrs. Van Al- 
styne, having been so widely known by her maiden 
name, Fanny J. Crosby, it is still retained in connection 
with her hymns, though of late years some few of her 
productions are accredited to Mrs. Van Alstyne, or Mrs. 
F. J. Van Alstyne. 

Her husband can enter into hearty sympathy with 
her sightless condition, as he also is blind, and was for- 
merly a teacher in an Institution for the Blind. Both 
of their mental visions are, however, clear, and the sky 
above beams with brightness around. He is enabled by 
his sweet strains of music to guild the passing moments, 
and she with her flowers of poesy to make their feet ever pass 
through the pleasant summer-land of song. During the 
last four years of Mr. Bradbury's life, Mrs. Van Alstyne 
was in his employ. The first hymn she wrote for him 
was the one sung by his friends in his dying moments, 
and the first one sung by the children at his funeral. 

" We are going, we are going 
To a home beyond the skies." 

While seated together, in his office, one bright autumn 
day, Mr. Bradbury spake of his anticipated death, and 
said : " Fanny, take up the work where I leave it. It 



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60 



Fanny J. Crosby continued. 



will not be long till you will come to that beautiful region 
too. I'll wait for you on the bank of the river." It 
was a touching scene when, in after clays, she was led to 
the coffin of her departed friend, and lifted the cold 
hand of clay, to bid a painful adieu. Faithfully has 
she complied with the dying request of her sainted friend 
to carry on the work. Through the liberal support 
granted her for her productions, by Messrs Biglow and 
Main, she has ever since been enabled to devote her 
whole time to the composition of hymns. 

Fanny Crosby has a wonderful faculty for impromptu 
composition. Many of her best pieces have flowed out 
of her soul like sparkling water from a fountain. One 
day Mr. Doane came into her room hurriedly, saying, 
"Fanny, I want you to write a hymn on 'Safe in the 
arms of Jesus.' " At the same time, he sat down and 
played the melody. " I wrote it," said Fanny, " in twen- 
ty minutes. My heart was in it." 

This, she says, has proven to be one of the most pop- 
ular hymns she ever wrote. When it first welled up 
from the warm hearts of thousands, in Spurgeon's Tab- 
ernacle, in London, the effect was so grand, that he 
with streaming eyes, cried out at the close: "That is so 
good. Let us have it over again." 

At another time, Mr. Doane came in, saying : " Fanny, 
I want you to write," and as he struck the keys of the 
instrument, there flowed from the lips of the blind poetess, 
the words of the popular hymn, beginning: — 

11 There's a gentle voice within, calls away." 
Under the same inspiration and at the same time, she 
composed another hymn that is often sung : — 




"Jesus, keep me near the cross, 
There a precious fountain, 
Free to all — a healing stream, 

Flows from Calvary's mountain," 



1 



Fanny J. Crosby continued. 



61 




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with the familiar chorus words: — 

" In the cross, in the cross 
Be my glory ever ; 
Till my raptured soul shall find 
Rest beyond the river." 

A touching incident occurred in New York in con- 
nection with the singing of the last hymn. 

A small boy was run over by a Third Avenue rail- 
road car and taken to a hospital. A few moments be- 
fore his death he said: "May I sing?" After clasping 
his little hands and saying the Lord's prayer, he broke 
out in singing the hymn ; 

" Jesus, keep me near the cross." 

His voice gradually grew weaker as he sang: — 

"Near the cross I'll watch and wait, 
Hoping, trusting ever, 
Till I reach the golden strand, 
Just beyond the river." 

and with these words upon his lips he crossed the river. 

One summer evening, Fanny Crosby was present at a 
meeting in the Water Street Mission in New York, when 
a number of sailors were present. One of their number 
arose and said that for many years he had lived far from 
God — a reckless life — until strolling along the streets 
the first Sunday after his vessel had landed, he happened 
to hear music proceeding from that building. He 
stopped and listened, and was induced to enter while 
they were singing: — 

11 Safe in the arms of Jesus." 
It so stirred his soul, that he rested not till he was "Safe 
in the arms of Jesus." 

Fanny has been a busy writer. About six hundred 
of her Sunday school hymns have been printed, and three 
hundred miscellaneous poems. Mr. H. P. Main says: 
" We have also about one thousand of her unpublished 
hymns which will appear in due season." 




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62 



Origin of Mrs. HaWs hymn. 



Mrs. Elvina M. Hall. 




c: 



jj N central Pennsylvania is a spring of water that 
^ rushes Ibrth from under an immense rock, in force 
sufficient to make vocal at once some adjacent flour- 
mills, and to make green the meadows through which it 
spreads its life-giving waters. So there are some hymns 
that have gushed spontaneously from some overflowing 
heart, and instantly have been like the " river, the streams 
whereof make glad the city of our God." 

Beside the organ in a choir gallery of the Monument 
Street Methodist E. Church, in Baltimore, Md., there 
started such a stream of soul-saving influence in 1865. 

On a Sabbath morning, one of the singers had knelt 
in prayer at the opening service, led by the pastor, the 
Rev. S. Barnes. Feeling her own weekness and un- 
worthiness, she says, she inwardly exclaimed: "O Lord, 
I am so poor and helpless, what have I to bring to 
Thee," when there seemed to flow into my soul a sweet 
echo of the words of my hymn : — 

"I hear the Saviour say, Thy strength indeed is small; 
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in me thine all in all." 

" That these heaven-born thoughts might not escape, 
I took my pencil and commenced writing them down 
on the fly-leaf of the ' Lute of Zion/ and so rapidly dia 
the words pour into the heart, that before the prayer was 
ended, I had completed the hymn, and, as I rose from 
my knees, the chorus words rose jubilantly to my lips: — 

"Jesus paid it all, All to him I owe, 

Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." 

The author of these divinely inspired words was Mrs. 
Elvina M. Hall, who was born in Alexandria, Va., in 1818, 
but for many years past has been a resident of Baltimore 
City. When but ten years of age she found her Saviour, 
and has ever since been a useful member of the Church. 



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Author of "I need Thee every hour." 



63 




Mrs. Annie S. Hawks. 



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MID the trials and temptations that beset the path 
of the Christian pilgrim, how natural the language 
of the hymn: — 

" I need Thee every hour, 
Most gracious Lord." 

Doubtless many happy greetings await the author of 
these lines as she enters the bright mansions above. 

Mrs. Annie S. Hawks was born in Hoosick, New 
York, May 28, 1835. For the several past years she 
has been a resident of Brooklyn, New York. Although 
from early life she has given much attention to educa- 
tional and literary pursuits, yet there was not much pub- 
licity given to her effusions till about 1868, when her 
pastor, the Rev. R. Lowry, discovering her talent, en- 
couraged her to write for the good of others. Among 
the first and tenderest of her hymns was, "Why weepest 
thou?" in "Bright Jewels." Her songs have also ap- 
peared in "Pure Gold," "Royal Diadem," "Brightest 
and Best," "Temple Anthems," and " Tidal Wave," and 
have been copied in numerous other , works. Among 
her songs best known are : — 

"Who'll be the next?" 
. "In the valley." 
" Here am I." 
" Yield, yield." 
" Wholly Thine." 
" Living for Christ." 
' I need Thee every hour." 

The last hymn was the outgrowth of her own exper- 
ience. Having sent it to the Rev. Mr. Lowry, he caught 
the spirit of the hymn and gave it musical expression. 

It was first sung in the National Baptist Sunday School 
Convention in Cincinnati, Nov. 20, 1872, by three 
thousand people. Its popularity began from that hour. 



1 



64 



Rev. R. Lowry. 



•Jf^f' 



IUv. Robert Lowry, D. D. 

§N a very liofc summer day, in 1864, a pastor was 
seated in his parlor in Brooklyn, N. Y. It was a 
time when an epidemic was sweeping through the 
city, and draping many persons and dwellings in mourn- 
ing. All around friends and acquaintances were passing 
away to the spirit-land in large numbers. The question 
began to arise in the heart, with unusual emphasis, "Shall 
we meet again? We are parting at the river of death, 
shall we meet at the river of life?" " Seating myself 
at the organ," says he, "simply to give vent to the pent 
up emotions of the heart, the words and music of the 
hymn began to flow out, as if by inspiration : — 

" Shall we gather at the river, 

Where bright angel feet have trod." 

That pastor was the Rev. Mr. Lowry, who has since 
become so widely known in connection with Sunday 
school song. He was born in Philadelphia, March 12, 
1826. In early boyhood he began to throw off scraps 
of songs and composed melodies before he knew anything 
of harmony, yet publishers picked up his airs and issued 
them, as he says, "with all their harmonic crudeness." 
As he came into the circle of musical men, he detected 
his own deficiencies and gave himself to the thorough 
study of harmony. 

In early life he learned to love his Saviour, and in 
1854, graduated in the Lewisburg University, and began 
the work of the gospel ministry. His first charge was 
the Baptist church at West Chester, Pa. His subsequent 
pastorates were in New York City and Brooklyn, N. Y. 
In 1869, he was elected professor of Belles Lettres in 
the University, and pastor of the Baptist Church at 
Lewisbursr, Pa. After continuing this double dutv for 
six years, the pressure of the work, together with the 




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ROBERT LOWRY. 



Rev. R. Lowry continued. 



67 




composition of music books, was so great that lie was 
compelled to withdraw for lest, and is at the present a 
resident of Plainh'eld, N. J. 

The books with which his name has been connected 
have been the most successful of all that have been pre- 
pared for Sunday schools. The "Bright Jewels, " issued 
in 1869, attained a circulation of half a million copies 
in four years; "Pure Gold" has reached a sale of a mil- 
lion copies; "Royal Diadem "and "Brightest and Best" 
are following in the same successful career. 

Among his best known pieces we may mention the 
following : — 

11 Shall we gather at the river," 

" Shall we know each other there," 

11 Who'll be the next,'' 

" Weeping will not save me," 

"One more day's work for Jesus," 

11 Rifted rock.'' 

"We are going down th? valley" was written under 
peculiar circumstances. Says he, "I was sick in bed, 
propped up with pillows.' At the same time three per- 
sons, who had been members of my congregation, two of 
them Sunday school scholars, were lying dead within a 
stone's throw of my house. It. distressed me that I could 
not attend any of these funerals. This extraordinary 
mortality impressed me deeply. My feeling was so op- 
pressive that I could relieve it only in song. On the 
back of an envelope I wrote the refrain, and the music 
came with it. The hymn followed in close connection, 
and the whole song took shape the same afternoon. 
This also was born, not made. 



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68 



W. Howard Doane. 



W. Howard Doane. 



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mHE names of Messrs. Doane and Lowry are as famil- 
®) iar as household words, being so prominently asso- 
ciated as authors of some of our most popular singing 
books, such as "Pure Gold," "Royal Diadem," and 
"Brightest and Best." 

Mr. W. Howard Doane was born in Preston, Conn., 
February 3, 1831. In early life he gave evidences of 
that musical talent that has given him in later years so 
much celebrity. When but fourteen years of age he 
composed a long metre tune. At sixteen he' was the 
leader of a choir, and at seventeen both conductor and 
organist. About this time he commenced the study of 
harmony and thorough bass under the most eminent 
teachers of the day, and also to compose songs with piano 
accompaniment. Music with him is a sort of second 
nature, a constant source of enjoyment and delight. So 
that many of his pieces have spontaneously bubbled up 
from the musical depths within. Thus the music of 
" Safe in the arms of Jesus " swept over the cords of his 
soul, while the cars were sweeping through the land on 
a journey to New York. At another time, while riding 
through the White Mountains on the old style of stage 
coach, the music of the "Old, old story" began to float 
through the inner man. 

Among his best pieces which have taken a warm hold 
on the Christian heart, and which will never be forgotten 
we may mention those entitled: — ■ 

' Pass me not, gentle Saviour," 
"Jesus, keep me near the cross," 
" More love to thee, Christ," 
" Take the name of Jesus with you.' 



& 



Andrew Young's hymn. 



69 



C 



Praise from a Boat Cabin. 



HIBERNIAN asking a minister to come and see 
<eb his child, the following conversation ensued : — 

" * What is your name, sir. and where do you live?' 
name is Pater M : I live on an ould ca- 



" < My 



nal-boat at the fut of Harrison Street. I wint there whin 
I was burnt out; and nobody at all has driv me out of it. ' 

" i And what is the matter with your child ? ' 

" ' Och ! and is it Kitty, my own little darling Kitty. 
The only child I've lift of the six that has been born til 
me ? Och ! Kitty ! she was playing about on a ship where 
I was til wark, and she fell down the hatchway and broke 
her leg, and poor Kitty's leg is not set right, your 
riverence, for I have no money til pay a docther. Och ! 
poor Kitty ! and I've nothing to give her to ate, your 
riverence. ' 

" l Well, Peter, I will come down and see your Kitty, 
and see what can be done for you. ' 

" I did so, and found a wretched state of things. The 
poor little suffering child was overjoyed to see me. I 
remembered her countenance, — a sweet, mild little girl, 
not yet five years of age. She lay upon the side seat of 
an old canal-boat which had been laid up for the winter. 

There was no fire, though it was a bitter cold day, no 

chair, no bed, no food, scarcely an article of furniture or 
any comfort whatever. I did what I could to relieve the 
wants of the little sufferer. I asked her if she could 
read. No, she could not read a word ; ' but I can sing , ' 
said she. i What can you sing V i Something I learned 
at Sabbath-School. ' ' Well, what is it you can sing, Kit- 
ty?' In a moment her sweet little voice broke out, 

" ' There is a happy land, 
Far, far away, 
Where saints in glory stand 
Bright, bright as day. ' " 



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70 



Philip Phillips. 



Q 



Philip Phillips. 

R. PHILIP PHILLIPS is widely known as the 
"Singing Pilgrim," and of late has extended his 
pilgrimage around the world, making the entire 
circuit vocal with song. Like Mr. San key, he has been 
privileged to reach and sway great multitudes with the 
eloquence of musical speech, and to preach effective song 
sermons. Mr. Phillips was born in Chatauqua County, 
New York, August 13, 1834. In early life he lost his 
mother. His father, having a large family to care for, 
little Philip was apprenticed to a farmer until he should 
attain to the age of twenty-one. Amid his daily toil his 
soul was full of song, and in his spare moments he began 
the study of music. Availing himself of every oppor- 
tunity of attending upon musical schools and conventions, 
under Dr. Lowell Mason and other eminent teachers, 
he was enabled bv the time he was seventeen, to 
begin his life work of "Singing for Jesus." When 
nineteen years of age his employer released him from 
service, and he was permitted to give his undivided at- 
tention to the teaching and study of music. While 
singing at musical and other conventions, and large 
Sunday school gatherings, he became extensively known 
as a sweet singer in Israel, and so extensive has been his 
sphere of labor that he has held his "Evenings of Sacred 
Song " in every State of the Union, and in all sections of 
Canada and Great Britain, as well as in India, Australia, 
and other remote parts of the globe. 

Having given his heart to the Lord when but a boy 
of thirteen, he early blossomed in the vineyard of the 
Lord, and in after years gave to his first publication the 
expressive title : " Early Blossom." These blossom leaves 
ended in abundant fruit, as twenty thousand copies of 
the book were sold. Soon after there followed his 



)) 




PHILIP PHILLIPS 



Philip Phillips continued. 



73 



•^sf 



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"Musical Leaves/' that spread over the land like the 
leaves of the tree of life, fragrant with that odor which 
is "for the healing of the nations." Soon after there 
came treading through the land his "Singing Pilgrim," 
which made many homes vocal with the name of Jesus. 
The singing of Mr. Phillips' song, "I will sing for 
Jesus," has been attended with happy results. One 
evening a great throng had gathered in the Effingham 
Theater, London, in connection with William Booth's 
mission, to hear Mr. Phillips "sing for Jesus." The 
song was wafted to the ears of a dispairing man, while 
on his way to the London docks to commit suicide. It 
arrested his attention. As he listened the inquiry was 
made to echo through his soul, 

" Can there overtake me 
' Any dark disaster, 
While I sing for Jesus, 

My blessed, blessed Master?" 

His purpose was thwarted. It brought home to his 
heart the memory of a mother's prayers and praises in 
his early days, and brought him broken-hearted to the 
feet of his Saviour. So that afterwards he could say : — 

"I will sing for Jesus; 

His name alone revealing, 
Shall be my sweetest music, 

When heart and flesh are failing." 

In the early part of Mr. Phillips' career he was filling 
an engagement in the West. While singing the words 

"Can there overtake me, " etc. 
his store with all its contents was burned, throwing him 
out of business capital, and thereby forcing him to the 
writing and singing of sacred songs. While this seemed 
like dark disaster it proved to be but the dark cloud 
that brought a blessing in disguise. On the following 
page we give an illustration of the sentiment contained 
in one of Mr. Phillips' hymn, the " Home of the Soul." 




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Phillips' "song of the soul. " 




Echo of the Heavenly Choir. 

" Till I fancy but thinly the vail intervenes 
Between the fair city and toe. " 

tOPHIE Rubeti, eighteen years of age, died at High-* 
land, Kansas Jan. 25, 1861. 
Not long before her death, she said to one support- 
ing her, "Is not the village band playing this evening?" 
On being told it was not, she said, " 1 hear delightful mu- 
sic, I thought the band was playing. Oh ! it is delight- 
ful, listen, and I think you can hear it," and added, "I 
have now lost the use of one of my hands, ( it was cold 
in death,) but if I could use it, I would raise it and clap 
both my hands for joy in the beautiful prospect. " She con- 
tinued, as she had strength, to exhort and to praise, un- 
til just before her departure she exclaimed, " Jesus is com- 
ing — they are coming — raise me up, " and in a few seconds, 
without a struggle or a moan, she ceased to breathe. 

The following verses were written in her own hand, 
on the inner lid of her Bible : — 

"Worlds should not bribe me back to tread 
Again life's weary waste, 
To see a^ain my days o'erspread 
With all thegloom} r past. 
My home henceforth is in heaven, 

Earth, sea, and sun adieu, 
All heaven unfolded to mine eyes,- 
I have no sight for vou. " 




S a mother bent over a death bed, her daughter 
Margaret said, " Kiss me dearest Mamma, and fold 
your arms about me, that I may die in them. " 
When this was done, a heavenly lustre lit up her coun- 
tenance as she exclaimed, "I hear the songs of angels, 
and go to join them, and to be forever with Jesus. " 
She then bade adieu to earth. 



r 



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" Sing, father" 



75 




" Jesus Is Right Here. " 

OW expressive these words, as 
uttered by a little one, in the 
valley of the shadow of death. 

He had sent for his Sundav 
school teacher. 

As he drew near the death bed, 
Johnny exclaimed, "I am not a- 
fraid to die now, dear teacher, 
Jesus is right here, and he makes 
it very light." "Sing, father," 
said he, "Sing, — • 

"There is a fountaii filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuers veins. " 

The father tried to sing, but his strong voice failed 
him. Then the mother with faltering voice, commenced 
the hymn. And amid the echoes of this sweet hymn he 
passed up to the hallelujahs of the heavenly world. 

Truthfully the marble grave stone says of him, 
"Not LOST, 

But gone befoee." 

A little girl, who had a sweet realization of the near- 
ness of the Saviour, whispered, with her dying breath, 
" Father, take me. " 

Her father, who sat weeping by her bedside, thought 
she meant him, and so lifted her up into his lap. She 
smiled and thanked him, and said, "I spoke to my heav- 
enly Father, " and then died. 



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76 



Ira D. Sankey. 



*0~ 



Ira D. Sankey. 

FEW years ago nearly every one thought that Ave had 
reach 3(1 the culmination in the Sunday school world, 
that its utmost capacity for good was comprehended, 
but the clearer light of each new year's experience reveals 
our mistake. So it has been in the sphere of music. 
The wonderful effects that have been lately developed in 
the soul-saving power of sanctified music, and of singing 
only for Jesus, have shown to the church great undevel- 
oped resources in that direction. And if the sweet ring 
of a few consecrated "bells," has produced such a deep 
impression, as the chariot of the Lord passes through 
the land, what may we not expect, when we shall live 
in th3 full meridian of that dav, when "there shall be 
upon all the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord." 
Hitherto the world has had some idea of the reading 
and singing of hymns, but not the full meaning of 
"Speaking, and teaching and admonishing one another 
in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." New beauty 
has appeared in this portion of the holy writ since Mr. 
Sankey and other sweet singers have been speaking to 
and teaching and admonishing the great multitudes in 
the melodious strains of the gospel in song. 

Mr. Ira D. Sankey was born in Edinburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1840. With four brothers and sisters, he grew 
up, under the soul saving influences of godly parents, in 
connection with the Methodist Episcopal church. His 
conversion took place in his sixteenth year, during a 
series of revival meetings held in King's Chapel.' At 
the commencement of these extra services, he. seemed 
quite indifferent, but night after night an old steward in 
the church was wont to urge him to lay hold on eternal 
life, and persisted in his exhortations, until he at length 
yielded to the claims of the gospel and united his destiny 




c: 



i 




IRA D. SANKEY. 



Ira D. SanJcey continued. 



79 



with the people of God. His parents shortly afterwards 
removing to New Castle, Pennsylvania, he was there 
received into full membership with the Methodist E. 
Church. When about twenty years of age he became 
the superintendent of a large Sabbath school, and in this 
capacity commenced his career of singing the gospel into 
the hearts of the people. Mr. Moody, having heard him 
at the International Convention of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, at Indianapolis, said to him, after 
an introduction : " I want you?" "What for?" was 
the reply. "To help me in my work at Chicago." "I 
cannot leave my business." "You must," said Mr. 
Moody, " I have been looking for you for the last eight 
years." 

After looking up to heaven for direction, Mr. Sankey 
yielded to the request, and the two united their tact and 
talents in winning souls to Christ. 

Solo-singing had been in vogue before, but it had been 
looked upon rather as a "method of pious enjoyment," 
than as a " means of grace and salvation." After some 
two or three years of labor together in Chicago and other 
cities, they set sail for England on June 7, 1872, as Mr. 
Moody said: "To win ten thousand souls to Christ." 
On landing at Liverpool they discovered that the two 
friends, by whom they had been invited to England; had 
recently died. 

Their first meeting was held at York, in a small room 
of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was at- 
tended by only eight persons. But from that small be- 
ginning there started a work that spread like a mighty 
wave of salvation over Great Britain. 

At York an interesting conversion took place in con- 
nection with the singing of Mr. Sankey. While engaged 
in singing at his private lodgings, the people would 
gather in the streets, in great crowds to hear him. 




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80 



Ira. D. Sanhey continued. 




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Among the number was a woman who was so deeply 
convicted of her sins, by one of the hymns sung, that she 
sought an interview with Mr. Sankey, and was at once 
led by him to Christ. 

This was the first of that long series of song-trophies 
which became so characteristic of the great English re- 
vival. One secret of Mr. Sankey's success was the prom- 
inence he gave to hymns having a Scriptural basis, such 
.as " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by/' Almost persuaded," 
and "The Ninety -and-nine." This helped to open the 
way to the hearts of the psalm-singers of Scotland, who 
had so lon«: been averse to instrumental music in the 
sanctuary. One writer says, " His singing has swept 
away our prejudices; no one has thought of arguing 
whether or not it is suited to public worship, because 
every one feels that it is. What Mr. Sankey does is to 
preach by song. He is no performer. We think when 
we hear him of what he is singing, not of how he sings. 
That a man should stand up at the music stool and pray 
that the song he is about to sing may carry a message to 
many hearts, or that he should, in a short speech, ask 
Christians to pray while he is singing, that God will 
bless his song, is a thing that none of us ever heard of 
before." 

A Scotchman came to his pastor one day, saying, " I 
cannot do with the hymns. They are all the time in 
my head and I cannot get them out. The psalms never 
trouble me that way." "Very well," said the pastor, 
"then I think you should keep to the hymns." 

In connection with Mr. Sankey's singing have been 
many illustrations of Herbert's couplet: — 

" A verse may win him who the gospel flies, 
And turn delight into sacrifice." 

A young lady who had been led to Christ was anxious 
to know what to do in relation to a wild young man 




W 



Ira D. Sankey continued. 



81 



to whom she was engaged to be married. 

While paying her a visit one evening he noticed a 
great change in her mind, and asked her what it meant. 
After telling him of her conversion and her fears that 
she would not be happy in living with one who had no 
regard for religion, he relieved her mind by saying, 
" Don't be troubled, Mary, I have been to the meetings 
too. I went down there the other night just to see what 
the fun was, and before I had been there long Mr. 
Sankey sang something that went straight to my heart. 
So now I am a Christian too and we will go to heaven 
together. " 

A comic singer was going upon the stage to sing a 
comic song, in England, when suddenly a verse of a 
Sunday school hymn so filled his mind as to crowd out 
the song, and he was unable to perforin his part, when 
the manager at once dismissed him from his service. 
To recover from his failure he thought he would write a 
comedy ending with a burlesque on Moody and Sankey. 
In order to sharpen the edge of his satire he went to hear 
them for himself. At the meeting while waiting to 
gather material for his comedy he was so wrought upon 
by what he heard that he confessed his sin, and sent up 
the Bartimeus cry for mercy. After p°ace was obtained 
he began at once to sing the new song of redeeming love. 

While riding in the cars in Scotland, Mr. Sankey met 
with the words of the hymn, "Ninety and nine," in the 
corner of a newspaper. A few days later the subject of 
of the "Shepherd" was under consideration at cne of 
their meetings, when the hymn seemed so appropriate to 
the remarks made th# he was led as if by inspiration at 
once to give musical expression to the words by singing 
the tune to which they have become wedded ever since. 
The unwritten melody surprised Mr. Moody who asked, 
" Where did you get it? It is the best piece you ever sung," 




C 



Plan of Illustrated Sermon*. 



In the preparation of these sermons Mr. Long has 
employed eminent artists to paint on canvas, ( making a 
roll for each discourse) first the text in letters large 
enough to be seen over the largest building, then under- 
neath a painting of the occasion of the text, after this as 
many other verses of Scripture with illustrations below 
as there are points in the sermons or links in the (hain 
of thought. By means of a frame twelve feet high, 
placed in the rear, the illustrations appear above the top 
of the pulpit. Suspended on three rollers they revolve 
silently and as quickly as the turning of a leaf of a 
written sermon. 

The frame is made of tin-ware, so narrow that it oc- 
cupies but a handbreadth of space behind the pulpit sofa, 
in telescopic form, so that the parts drop one into the 
other, and can be put up or taken down in five minutes. 
It is all concealed with becoming drapery, so as to form 
a neat back ground to any pulpit, and the audience see 
nothing but the Scripture text and its illustration under- 
neath. 

For example, one sermon is on the text " Thy heart 
is not right in the sight of God." Below the text is seen 
the occasion of the words, to wit: Simon Magus dis- 
closing the state of his heart by offering money to the 
Apostles with which to buy the Holy Ghost. Then 
follow vaiious Scripture illustrations of the heart as it 
appears in God's sight. A miniature view of one of these 
illustrations is given on the opposite page, showing 
Solomon's vain endeavor to satisty his heart with earthly 
good. In the scene is seen all the objects he found to 
be " vanity." 



84 



Engravings. 




Department of Sunday School Song. 

Portrait of Robert Raikes 21 

Jubilee Gathering at Exeter Hall 25 

Portrait of Wm. B. Bradbury 27 

Portrait of Mrs. Lydia Baxter 38 

Author of "There is a gate that stands ajar." 
Portrait of P. P. Bliss 49 

Author of " ' Almost persuaded ' now to believe." 
Portrait of Fanny J. Csosby ,55 

Anthor of " Pass me not, gentle Saviour." 
Portrait of Rev. Robert Lowry, D. D 66 

Author of " Shall we gather at the river. " 
Portrait of Philip Phillips 71 

Author of " Still I am singing, Jesus is mine." 
Portrait of Ira D. Sankey 77 



Contents, 



85 




C 



Depaetmenf of Sunday School Song. 



Children's hosannas in Jerusalem 17 

Watts' hymns for children 18 

Raikes and the origin of Sunday Schools 20 

Firing off a cannon at the overthrow of a Sunday School 23 

Hymns for the grand Sunday School Jubilee 24 

Wm. B. Bradbury's life and songs 26-35 

Origin of u I want to be an angel.'' 36-37 

Mrs. Lydia Baxter's life and hymns 38-45 

A child who could not sing "Jesus is mine." 46-47 

P. P. Bliss and his hymns 48-53 

Fanny J. Crosby's life and hymns 54-61 

Mrs. E. M. Hall and origin of "I hear ( the Saviour say" 62 

Mrs. Annie S. Hawks, author of " I need Thee every hour." 63 

Rev. R. Lowry's life and hymns 64-67 

W. Howard Doane and his songs 68 

Philip Phillips' life and songs 70-73 

Echoes of the heavenly choir 74 

Jesus is right here , 75 

Ira. D. Sankey's life and songs 76-81 

Illustrated Sermons 82-83 



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